Harvey V. Fineberg '67

On the surface, President Neil L. Rudenstine might seem like the year's biggest newsmaker--his decision to step down next spring grabbed headlines last month.

But with the University's capital campaign--Rudenstine's legacy--complete at last, the president has become a lame duck. Inevitably, power and attention will devolve to those around him. And his nearest subordinate, Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67, is trying to conceal his eagerness to take the reins.

Just as Vice President Al Gore '69 wants to take over from his boss, Fineberg has been touted as the logical candidate to succeed Rudenstine. Articulate and ambitious, the former dean of the School of Public Health has four Harvard degrees.

The projects he has worked on this year are solidly important to the University, if decidedly unsexy. Fineberg's office led the fight this year to curb trademark infringements on the storied Harvard name. He has presided over attempts to bring the massive, flailing computer system called Project ADAPT under control. He is the point man on interfaculty initiatives, a subject long dear to Rudenstine's heart.

Fineberg even played along at an October dinner celebrating the Harvard-Radcliffe merger. The provost and Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles donned huge, billowing ball gowns and pirouetted to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune.

But while Fineberg's name has cropped up on most prediction lists, he will face a stiff, competitive presidential search process. The search committee may decide to promote one of Harvard's deans--former president Derek C. Bok was dean of the law school--or find a candidate from another university like Rudenstine, a onetime Princeton provost.

But no matter what the selection committee decides, expect Fineberg to be making a change soon. The number-two position is a logical stepping-stone to higher office--if not at Harvard, then at another university. Fineberg may not have "provost" attached to his name for long.

Paul S. Grogan

Whenever Harvard administrators turn their minds to the world beyond the Yard, Paul S. Grogan is usually on hand to point the way.

The vice president for government, community and public affairs has taken an unusually active role this year. Grogan has coordinated Harvard's efforts on issues ranging from Allston land purchases to the city's call for a living wage.

Grogan's burst of energy reflects a newfound commitment in the University to improving relations with the cities of Cambridge and Boston, which bottomed out in 1997 after revelations that Harvard had secretly bought more than 50 acres of Boston land. A former employee of the Boston mayor's office, Grogan was hired last January to help repair the damage.