Finally, the Corporation's newest member arrived just in time for the search. Appointed earlier in the year, lawyer Conrad K. Harper's term on the Corporation began July 1, 2000—exactly one year before the 27th president would take office. The task was daunting for the new member.

"I always anticipated that I would be part of some kind of search, I didn't think I'd be facing a search the moment I arrived on the Corporation," Harper said.

Three members of the Board of Overseers joined the six members of the Corporation for its nine-month-long odyssey: Richard E. Oldenburg `54, Thomas E. Everhart `53 and Overseer president Sharon E. Gagnon.

And, thus, the line-up was made. Seven men, two women. Seven New Yorkers, one Alaskan (Gagnon) and one Chicagoan (Gray). All independently wealthy. All but one white.

The beginning:

Harvard's search process is unique in many ways, not least of which is its insular and secretive nature. Unlike schools like Princeton, no faculty or students were formally involved. The choice would be up to the nine search committee members—most of whom graduated from Harvard during the Eisenhower administration.

But as one Corporation member put it, "If we were to include students and faculty, which students? Which faculty?" With nine faculties and a student body of 18,000 spread out between 12 schools, deciding who would represent those views would be a debacle, say Corporation members.