Through the Grapevine

Still, even without direct knowledge, faculty say that several professors are obvious candidates.

“As far as the faculty is concerned, I would say that Kagan is first in line, and then Mnookin,” said Peter L. Murray, a visiting professor at HLS for the past 12 years.

Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz and two other senior HLS professors agreed that Kagan and Mnookin were probably the top internal candidates.

Kagan has gained visibility for heading up a Law School committee studying campus expansion in the North Yard and Allston. Her committee’s report, which was presented to the Harvard Corporation this winter, has been lauded by those close to Summers for its even-handedness in the face of HLS faculty’s strong opposition to a move to Allston.

Kagan has gained respect among professors as well.

“She has done a very impressive job with reconciling and presenting faculty concerns about Allston in this report,” Murray says. “She has impressed both the Law School faculty and President Summers with her ability to handle ticklish administrative matters.”

Kagan, who declined to comment for this story, shares a common history with Summers. Each took time away from academia in the 1990s to work in the Clinton administration—he as the number-two at the Treasury Department, she as a top domestic policy advisor. Appointed a visiting professor in 1999, Kagan is relatively new to the faculty, and doesn’t carry very much baggage.

“Kagan is young and dynamic,” Murray says. “But Mnookin is an older faculty member, and he’s certainly among the leading names out there.”

As a well respected expert in negotiation law, Mnookin is particularly qualified to lead a contentious faculty, Murray says.

Several professors, including Dershowitz, say that Professor of Law Martha L. Minow remains a name to watch. Though she is on the search committee, Dershowitz says that if she wanted the deanship, she would have a good shot.

Mnookin and Minow could not be reached for comment.

Sullivan, who left HLS for the Stanford Law School deanship a decade ago, is said to be a leading external candidate. Sullivan spoke at HLS on Tuesday evening as part of a symposium on privatization and public values.

Schauer, from the Kennedy School, is another candidate who brings administrative experience to the table.

The former academic dean at the School of Government, Schauer is currently a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.