“That will trickle, as opposed to a major interaction with the student population,” he added.

Rudenstine also spoke at length about the importance of having a professional theater company as a part of the campus.

He said he would tell his successor to “cherish” the ART.

“Theater, in its best, live form, ought to be a major presence at a University,” Rudenstine said.

According to Rudenstine, money and space have always been the primary concerns with theater at Harvard.

“Theaters always live very close to the edge financially,” he said. “There’s always more talent than there is money.”

Rudenstine also took the opportunity Wednesday to publicly bid Brustein goodbye, although Brustein will remain Artistic Director until next summer.

Rudenstine said he remembers first reading Brustein’s drama criticism in the mid-60s.

Inspired, he said he asked the director to speak at a lecture series he was organizing.

“It’s been a remarkable relationship for me,” Rudenstine said.

While Brustein said he plans to go on sabbatical during the 2002-2003 academic year, he will return to the Loeb afterwards as Founding Director and Creative Consultant.

He said he plans to use the time to write and to spend time with his wife.

“I’m very happy to be turning over the keys of the ART to such extraordinary men,” Brustein said.

—Staff Writer Daniela J. Lamas can be reached at lamas@fas.harvard.edu.