Over the past decade, the Corporation has come under fire for becoming increasingly corporate. Only two of the current members, Rudenstine and Hanna H. Gray, are career academics, while the rest have focused on business or law.

In the fall of 1994, some faculty members expressed concern at the increasing divide between the University's high-level management and the heart of the school--its teachers.

Tensions between the faculty and the central administration came to a head over a report by Rudenstine that suggested a 1 percent reduction in faculty benefits. Some faculty members criticized the administration for running Harvard like a business.

Shortly after, James R. Houghton '58, who was then chairman of the board of Corning, Inc., was appointed to the Corporation. He replaced scientist Charles P. Slichter '45, known by many as the Corporation's academic voice. Houghton's appointment meant that the Corporation's membership had twice as many business executives as academics.

And while the corporation does have to operate as a unified group on decisions, Slichter says that representation from diverse academic and career backgrounds is helpful in keeping in touch with issues sensitive to certain groups of people.

While Harper has spent his career largely in the practice of law, he does have some experience on the faculty side of higher education as a former lecturer at the law schools of Yale, Rutgers, Fordham and the City University of New York.

Harper says one of the things he enjoyed as a lecturer at other universities was meeting with students. He plans to use his new status as a Corporation member to interact more with students.

"It's a part of the joy and a part of the obligation," he says.