"The only area in which other great universities may have some comparative advantage is in the applied sciences--it is engineering and computer science that has made Stanford so dominant in stimulating the astonishing development of information technology," she wrote.

She also has been a strong proponent of smaller classes for undergraduates, touting Stanford's programs of first-year and sophomore seminars as a model for other colleges like Harvard's.

"Undergraduate education is about shaping habits of mind, not just conferring knowledge, and having at least some high-quality small class opportunities surely makes for better undergraduate education," she wrote.

She lists her favorite aspects of Harvard as "excellence, intensity, Fall and Spring." She's equally succinct in naming her least favorite aspect: "Winter."

Sullivan seems to take her weather seriously. When she moved from Harvard to Stanford in 1993, she quipped, "Who could resist teaching at a world-class law school in paradise?"

If her name remains on Harvard's short list, though, she might find herself suffering through the ice and snow of Harvard Yard once again.