As at Harvard, the Columbia vice president oversees state and federal lobbying efforts, directs local community relations and is in charge of media relations and the school’s public image.

Sources close to the search have said that Summers is looking for a candidate who has experience in all three areas covered by the vice president’s job description—government, community and public affairs.

Stone’s advantage may be that he has handled all three duties concurrently, and would not be subject to much of an adjustment in coming to Harvard.

Stone does have particular strengths—much of his career has been spent in Washington. Before coming to Columbia, Stone was a senior speechwriter in the Clinton White House. He has also worked on policy more directly, as a top aide to Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), and before as a top staffer on three Congressional committees.

Summers consulted widely among Washington acquaintances in considering candidates, but is said to be sensitive to the perception that he is importing too much of Washington to Cambridge. Sources said that while Stone is not friends with Summers directly they likely have mutual friends.

Stone was born in Chicago, and graduated from Miami University in Ohio in 1966. He is a lawyer by training, and worked for a time in Worcester, Mass. Stone’s work in Washington focused on issues such as children’s health, nutrition and women’s issues.

The Position