Brown's 13-member selection committee includes no students, though three undergraduates serve on an advisory panel.

Laura Freid, a former publisher of Harvard Magazine and currently an executive vice president at Brown, said the time lag between Rudenstine's resignation and his departure should give Harvard enough time to choose his replacement.

"It's not atypical to have a year-long process, determining the members of the search committee and gathering a large list of potential nominations," she said. "Once a short list is determined and the interviewing begins, it could take anywhere from six months to a year after that to have the president in place."

Freid said she did not think Rudenstine's announcement would winnow the field of candidates for Brown's top job.

"There's only one person who could be president of an institution at any time," she said.

Carnesale declined to comment when asked if he would be interested in the 27th presidency of Harvard.

"I'm sure it will be a national if not international search to find the very best person," Carnesale said.