“I think people recognize that taking this position will put you a little bit in a fishbowl,” Rothenberg said.

Last week, University officials said Meyer’s departure would have little effect on daily work at HMC given the contributions of its senior professionals, but the firm will incur a loss of 30 employees in total, comprising about 17 percent of its staff.

The transition in leadership may affect the morale of an organization, Meyer acknowledged in May.

“Obviously there’s some anxiety,” Meyer said. “Anytime a person at the top changes, there’s anxiety, but I think people are dealing with it now.”

While Nadosy’s interim post was announced alongside the strong returns on Harvard’s investments in fiscal 2005, the temporary leadership structure at HMC seems poised to produce a rockier transition than University officials had first sought—an arrangement that, according to Rothenberg, will include Meyer and his colleagues as advisors “for some time.”

—Zachary M. Seward contributed to the reporting of this story. —Staff writer Nicholas M. Ciarelli can be reached at ciarelli@fas.harvard.edu.