March 21, 1991--The Harvard Corporation names Neil L. Rudenstine the 26th president of the University.

May 22, 2000--After a decade at the helm, Rudenstine announces his resignation, effective June 2001. He says the time is right to move on.

July 13--Harvard announces the makeup of the search committee that will find the University's 27th president. As in the search for Rudenstine, the committee is made up of the six members of the Corporation and three members of the Board of Overseers: Robert G. Stone Jr. '45, D. Ronald Daniel, Thomas E. Everhart '53, Sharon E. Gagnon, Hanna H. Gray, Conrad K. Harper, James R. Houghton '58, Richard E. Oldenburg '54, Herbert S. "Pug" Winokur Jr. '65.

August--The committee sends out a brief letter to 300,000 members of the Harvard community soliciting suggestions for the new president.

Early October--Members of the search committee sit down with Harvard's House committee chairs and leaders of the Undergraduate Council to discuss what students would like to see in the new president.

Oct. 13--Stone announces that the committee has compiled a list of 400 names of possible presidents. The list was compiled from more than 200 personal interviews and 1,000 letters submitted by members of the Harvard community.

Dec. 10--Stone reads a winnowed list of 30-40 possible candidates at a meeting of the Board of Overseers. Neither former Vice President Al Gore '69 nor former President Bill Clinton make the cut. Lee C. Bollinger, the president of the University of Michigan, Business School Dean Kim B. Clark '74, Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67, Princeton Professor Amy Gutmann '71, Dean of Stanford Law School Kathleen M. Sullivan, Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and Harold Varmus, CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, are on the list.

Jan. 23--The search committee interviews Princeton Professor Amy Gutmann '71 in New York.