While President Neil L. Rudenstine's decision to step down means a chance to relax for the notoriously hard-working president, the work is just beginning for those around him responsible for choosing his successor.

The name of the 27th president of Harvard may be a mystery, but one thing is clear: whoever comes after Rudenstine will take the spotlight off fundraising, perhaps shifting it to technology.

The responsibility for the search, and the final decision, lies with the Harvard Corporation, the University's six-member governing board.

The University will likely employ an academic headhunting firm to narrow the field of candidates. The search will take at least six to eight months, says a member of one such firm in Boston.

And if Rudenstine's own searches for deans are any indication, the presidential search will also involve months of brainstorming, hundreds of phone calls to experts and both formal and informal consultations with authorities in higher education.

The last presidential search involved a committee of nine members, chaired by the Senior Fellow of the Corporation (now Robert G. Stone '45). They met repeatedly with the Board of Overseers and sent out 200,000 letters to Harvard students, faculty, staff and alumni, in addition to officials at other schools.

The search committee was said to make a special effort to include women and candidates of color among the possibilities.

Those familiar with the search process said whoever is selected will be accorded one of the most powerful voices in higher education.