Though he said it was too early to comment on his goals as the newest member of the Corporation, Reischauer said improving “the student experience” would be a top priority.

Reischauer said he hopes to help Harvard improve its leadership role in teaching and scholarship.

“It can do that first and foremost by making sure the ship is sound and that it is well-run,” he said, “and that it maintains the quality of its faculty and attracts the best students, and continues to be a community that not only looks inward but also realizes that it has a role to play in the global community.”

When he was a student at Harvard, Reischauer said, he never expected he would join the ranks of the University’s most powerful leaders.

“I must say my father would be just doubled over in laughter,” he said. “When I graduated I think I had hair down around my shoulders and remember walking in the parade and watching the representatives of the Overseers and the Corporation in their funny outfits and just thinking, ‘Good Lord, what would ever lead anyone to dress up like that?’”

—Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at shoichet@fas.harvard.edu.