The selection process for the fellowships is, McAdam said, “very elaborate.” Thousands of fellows are nominated for only a handful of spots, and are then selected by a panel of experts. Fellows can elect to wait up to six years to serve fellowships. Fineberg was offered a fellowship well before he announced his resignation as provost.

Like Fineberg, President Derek C. Bok spent a year at the center after he stepped down from his administrative position at Harvard. Associate Provost Dennis F. Thompson spent the 2000-2001 school year at the center, as did Harvard presidential prospect Amy C. Gutmann ’71. Fineberg will be joined by several other Harvard professors next year.

Though Fineberg is not required to detail his plans for the semester, he said he will focus on higher education and public health. The center encourages collaboration between its fellows, who eat in a communal cafeteria and play volleyball together.

Fineberg said his plans for the future are still wide open. He said he has set no deadline to decide what he wants to do.

“I’d love to be back at Harvard teaching and doing my academic work...if something worked out,” he said.

He was coy when asked about the prospect of a accepting a university presidency somewhere else.

“I’m open to a lot of things. I feel I have a comparative advantage in higher education,” Fineberg said. But then he also said he’d feel comfortable at a “foundation, a non-profit or in the private sector.”