James B. Conant '14, who came out of the ranks of Harvard's chemistry department to head the university, was the last professor without central administrative experience to head Harvard.

Professors still sometimes turn into presidents, but not at Harvard. (The last two to have a shot were Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein '61 and Andrus Professor of Genetics Philip M. Leder '56--who lost out to Rudenstine.) Wellesley plucked Diana Chapman Walsh from the School of Public Health faculty to serve as its leader in 1993.

But the typical college president now has years of administrative experience under his belt, often including the presidency of another institution.

According to a report by the American Council on Education (ACE), 38 percent of presidents at American research universities in 1998 had served as president of another university immediately prior to assuming their present positions.

Experts on higher education say that the rise of the professional presidency has largely been the result of the importance of financial matters in the modern university.

"There is such a thing as a professional president. There's no doubt about that," said Madeleine F. Green '67, ACE vice president. "To be a rank amateur and run a billion-dollar enterprise is tough going."

Nowadays, the typical route to the university presidency involves a rise though a number of administrative positions over many years.