Robert G. Stone Jr. ’45, the chair and senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, announced his retirement over winter break, effective at the end of the academic year.

The Harvard Corporation is the chief governing board of Harvard and is composed of seven members, including the president of the University.

Stone has served on the Corporation since 1975, and has been its senior fellow since 1995.

With Stone’s retirement, James R. “Jamie” Houghton ’58, the next-most senior member of the Corporation, will become its new senior fellow.

During his time on the Corporation, Stone has served as chair of Harvard’s Joint Committee on Inspection and of the Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility. He has also served on the board of directors of the Harvard Management Company.

As senior fellow, Stone chaired the search committee which selected Lawrence H. Summers as the University’s 27th president last year. He also co-chaired the $2.6 billion capital campaign which ended in 1999.

Current and former Corporation members and Harvard administrators praised Stone’s tenure, pointing to his devotion to the University.

“He’s been a marvelous senior fellow,” said Conrad K. Harper, a Corporation fellow. “He has this extraordinary capacity to remember everyone and at the same time to give concern to all the important issues.”

“He has been completely selfless and always committed to [the] support of the institution, to preserving it and making it the best in the world,” wrote Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 in an e-mail. “Every one of us here, both faculty and students, owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude for the good condition in which he is leading the University.”

Charles P. Slichter ’45, a former Corporation fellow, said Stone has been a “remarkable servant of Harvard.”

“I stand in awe of all the contributions he has made,” Slichter said.

In fact, former University President Neil L. Rudenstine said Stone is “already a legendary Harvard leader.”

“For me personally, he was—as Senior Fellow of the Corporation—a constant source of advice, support and friendship, for which I shall always be grateful,” Rudenstine said.

The search for Stone’s replacement is expected to begin soon, according to a University press release. As it is wont to do, the Corporation is keeping quiet about the search process. Harper declined to comment on the search.

And Slichter would only say that “It’s challenging to pick a successor to Bob Stone.”