"You don't want to just have a bunch of professors doing the search," Slichter says. "You want a broad-based spectrum."
But the three committee members with backgrounds in academia--Hanna H. Gray, Sharon E. Gagnon and Thomas E. Everhart '53--may be able to compensate for the other six members in terms of academic knowledge.
These three have extensive educational experience and contacts that balance out the rest of the group.
Additionally, some of the corporate types on the committee have previously held positions at other educational institutions. D. Ronald Daniel, for example, has chaired the Board of Trustees at Wesleyan University.
"They wouldn't be at their positions at Harvard if they didn't have something to offer," Armstrong says. "Your businessmen are very board-gauged people."
Harvard's Secret Society
Some members of the search committee have refused comment while others refer any specific questions to the University spokesperson.
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