The book’s speeches also touch on some of Rudenstine’s personal anecdotes.
In a 1998 speech given at the Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass., Rudenstine spoke of the root of his passion for reading—a meeting with a high school adviser during his first term as a scholarship student at the Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut.
“I don’t remember trying to articulate for myself, at the time, what this entire experience actually meant to me,” he says.
“But I’m certain that it is not at all an accident that I have been buying books ever since...that whenever our family has moved house, I have not really been able to begin work (or anything else) until the cartons of books have been emptied and the library has been put back in order: because until that happens, it is hard for me to feel that my mind is back in order.”
According to Rudenstine’s assistant, Beverly Sullivan, he makes a point of writing his own speeches.
“The staff tried to make it easier for him, but he crafts his own speeches,” she says.
Rudenstine explains that the process of writing speeches helps him develop his ideas on a particular issue.
Read more in News
Alumni Elect Five to Board of OverseersRecommended Articles
-
Rudenstine Timeline1991 March 21: Neil L. Rudenstine appointed the 26th president of Harvard University. Faculty enthusiastic: hes an academic. Overseers excited:
-
Kennedy Meets With RudenstineSen. Edward M. Kennedy ’54-’56 (D-Mass.) took advantage of a Washington stop on University President Neil L. Rudenstine’s “farewell tour”
-
How to Heal HarvardOn Sunday evening I sat down with twenty-two of my classmates and president-elect Larry Summers to discuss the future of
-
The Final Word on Neil RudenstineIf Neil L. Rudenstine had arrived at Harvard 10 years later, his legacy might have been very different.When he came
-
Rudenstine Jokes With Seniors at BaccalaureateCap-and-gown clad seniors filled Memorial Church to hear religious messages and a humorous address by outgoing President Neil L. Rudenstine
-
Rudenstine's LegacyOn July 30, President Neil L. Rudenstine will step down, leaving his successor a University quite different from the one
