President Neil L. Rudenstine announced this morning that he will leave Harvard at the end of this coming year.
While some said his announcement came suddenly, Rudenstine emphasized the timeliness of the decision.
"It's exactly the right thing for the University. We start a new planning process," he said. "There's no advantage to be gained by postponing the beginning of that. It seems the right moment for Harvard."
His resignation comes at the conclusion of a six-year capital campaign that has marked his tenure. He has raised $2.6 billion.
"He leaves the field with the bands all playing," said Derek C. Bok, former Harvard president. "I congratulate him on a job well done."
Robert G. Stone, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, praised Rudenstine's commitment to the institution.
"Harvard has benefited immeasurably from Neil Rudenstine's wisdom, his humanity, his passion for learning, and his extraordinary leadership," Stone said in a press release.
According to Angelica Zander Rudenstine, her husband only told his family about his decision in the last 24 hours--he wanted the Harvard Corporation to be the first to know.
Read more in News
Strawberry Tea Admits First Male AttendeesRecommended Articles
-
Corporation Prepares To Begin Nationwide Search for SuccessorWhile President Neil L. Rudenstine's decision to step down means a chance to relax for the notoriously hard-working president, the
-
Education Officials, Politicians Know Rudenstine As Diversity AdvocateHigher education will lose a strong advocate for diversity and a capable administrator when Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine steps
-
Behind the Scenes, A Sprawling Bureaucracy Runs the Many Parts of the Nation's Oldest UniversityIt is the rare undergraduate who truly cares about the powers that run this colossus of higher education. Stiff-necked bureaucratic
-
THE FIRST 5 YEARSW hen he arrived in Cambridge five years ago as the 26th president of Harvard University, Neil L. Rudenstine was
-
Regarding `Rudy'When Neil Leon Rudenstine assumed Harvard's presidency in 1991, the fanfare was predictably grandiose. Students hung banners from their dorm
-
Returning Students Hear of New PresidentMany Harvard students, while on spring break, heard about the appointment of Neil L. Rudenstine as the next president of