June 1, 1953, 12:30 p.m.: The Harvard Corporation announces Pusey’s presidency to the largest gathering of newspeople since the Tercentenary.

Oct. 13, 1953: Pusey is vested with the powers and privileges of the presidency in the Faculty Room of University Hall, before two hundred guests.

1953: Pusey calls the first large-scale press conference ever held in Massachusetts Hall for “freedom of inquiry” in response to McCarthy’s accusations that Harvard students are “open to indoctrination by communist professors.”

1953: Pusey invites William Bentinck-Smith ’37 to become his assistant. Bentinck-Smith remains in this position for 17 years.

1954: Pusey expresses pessimism for the state of the nation in his Baccalaureate speech, saying, “Our national life has been suffering from a peculiarly violent, festering mental ill-health. . .”

April 25, 1956: Pusey sketches out $40 million construction program at a meeting of the Associated Harvard Clubs in Miami.

1956: At a meeting in Pulpit Harbor, Maine, Pusey says $125 million is needed for the university.

Jan. 20, 1957: In a report to the Board of Overseers, Pusey urges the raising of academic standards. “The standard has been too low,” he says.