Exactly one week ago, Margo I. Seltzer '83 learned that she was going to be offered internal tenure in the field of computer science.

It was a rare accomplishment: a woman, receiving internal tenure. In the sciences.

"Harvard is a strange and wonderful place," Seltzer mused from her Carlisle home yesterday. For the past two months, she's been on maternity leave, caring for her infant daughter, Teagan.

Once upon a time, it was considered nearly impossible for a female academic at Harvard--or anywhere else, for that matter--to balance the demands of teaching, research, graduate student advising and family.

But Seltzer and others now say that it's not such a big deal.

For one thing, Harvard provides an array of options for professors to take care of their children--from months-long maternity leaves to lightened teaching schedules to on-site child care.

Seltzer had been an associate professor at Harvard since January of 1993. A Harvard College graduate, she obtained her doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley.

Back at Harvard, she worked her way up to associate professor in four years. Along the way, she had her first child, Tynan.