Hart doubted the University could match NYU’s offer, but is hopeful —“optimistic is too strong a word,” he said—that Harvard could keep Shleifer.

In addition to the support of many in his department, Shleifer also has a friend in a high place—University President Lawrence H. Summers. As a young professor, Summers advised Shleifer, and the two remain close friends.

In a deposition taken last year for the lawsuit, Summers testified that he had discussed with then-Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles the need to retain Shleifer, come what may.

“I expressed to Dean Knowles at some point that I was concerned to make sure that Professor Shleifer remained at Harvard,” Summers testified. “I felt that he made a great contribution to the economics department and that I knew there was a lot swirling. [I] expressed the hope that Dean Knowles would be attentive to that.”

Because of his friendship with Shleifer, Summers has since recused himself from all matters pertaining to the case and Shleifer. A University spokesperson said yesterday only that Summers shares Kirby’s sentiments.

Professors said that luring away Shleifer from Harvard would be a major boon for NYU, and that Stern’s finance department would be a good fit for Shleifer.

Though Shleifer’s interests and expertise are wide-ranging, they are well-suited to either an economics department like Harvard’s or a business school like NYU’s, Hart said.

Should Shleifer leave, it would be a major blow to a department that just last year saw the high-profile departure of former Stone Professor of International Trade Jeffrey D. Sachs ’76, who left Harvard last year for a reported $300,000 at Columbia.

According to the Chronicle, Shleifer has spent time lecturing at Stern this fall. This spring he continues his year-long leave of absence from Harvard.

—Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.