After returning to the U.S., she earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School (HLS) in 1981, clerked for Judge James L. Oakes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and practiced law for two years in Boston, working closely with Tribe. She joined the Harvard faculty first as an assistant professor in 1984, and was tenured in 1989.

She is highly regarded in her field by colleagues and students alike. The HLS class of 1992 presented her with the first Sacks-Freund Teaching Excellence Award.

"Everyone recognized that she has a very keen intellect. One of the things that stood out was that Professor Sullivan was a member of a subset of [HLS] professors to whom students could readily relate," says Ross S. Antonson, who served as one of HLS's 1992 class marshals and is now a senior attorney at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Minneapolis.

"She had a very dynamic teaching style, and one thing for me personally is she was accessible outside the classroom," he says. "I don't think the title of Harvard president would faze her at all."

Paul Brest, Sullivan's predecessor at SLS and current president of the Hewlett Foundation, thinks Sullivan would be an excellent choice.

"She has a sharp mind, and she really grapples with issues, both inside and outside of the university," Brest says. "I'm sure the Faculty would regard her as the best of their own."

In fact, Sullivan has made quite a name for herself in the legal profession.