[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 44 (Thursday, March 29, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RETIREMENT OF NEIL L. RUDENSTINE, PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY

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                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 29, 2001

  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I join with my Massachusetts colleagues--
John Joseph Moakley, Edward J. Markey, Richard Neal, Barney Frank, John 
Olver, James P. McGovern, Marty Meehan, John F. Tierney, and William 
Delahunt--in honoring Neil L. Rudenstine on his retirement as the 
twenty-sixth President of Harvard University in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. Harvard, founded in 1636, is the oldest university in 
the United States and one of the premier academic institutions in the 
world. Many of Harvard's distinguished graduates have become leading 
public servants throughout our nation's history, including seven 
Presidents, as well as many members of the United States House and 
Senate.
  Neil Rudenstine began his service as President of Harvard in 1991. He 
brought to the post the benefit of a distinguished career both in and 
out of academe. Prior to becoming Harvard's President, Mr. Rudenstine 
served three years as Executive Vice President of the Andrew W. Mellon 
Foundation. Before that, he was a Professor of English at Princeton 
University, his undergraduate alma mater, a member of the Class of 
1956. While at Princeton, Mr. Rudenstine held a series of 
administrative posts, including Dean of Students (1968-72), Dean of the 
College (1972-77), and Provost (1977-88).
  He is a renowned scholar of Renaissance literature, having published 
works on the poetic development of Sir Phillip Sidney and he is the co-
editor of English Poetic Satire: Wyatt to Byron. His academic 
achievements are quite notable. He was a Rhodes Scholar, receiving a 
second bachelor's degree and a master's degree while studying at New 
College at Oxford University. In 1964, Mr. Rudenstine earned his Ph.D 
in English from Harvard. While there, he served as an instructor and 
then an assistant professor in the Department of English and American 
Literature and Language before leaving for Princeton in 1968. Mr. 
Rudenstine is an honorary fellow of New College, Oxford, and Emmanuel 
College, Cambridge University, as well as Provost Emeritus of Princeton 
University. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the 
American Philosophical Society, and the Committee for Economic 
Development.
  Mr. Speaker, as Harvard's last president of the 20th century, Neil 
Rudenstine has many accomplishments that will sustain Harvard's 
academic leadership as the university moves into the new millennium. He 
oversaw the establishment of the Center for Public Leadership at the 
Kennedy School of Government and the creation of the Barker Center for 
the Humanities. Under his guidance, the university began a new doctoral 
program aimed at the intersection of business management and 
information technology. The medical facility has made great strides in 
cancer research and a new Harvard Biomedical Community has facilitated 
collaboration with industry on important research in that field.
  Neil Rudenstine also understood that a university will not achieve 
greatness if its doors are only open to the few. Just as our country 
gains its great strength from the contributions of our hard working and 
diverse people, a university's greatness depends upon giving 
educational opportunities to a wide variety of people. He expanded 
opportunities for Harvard undergraduates by increasing the financial 
aid budget by $8.3 million. This initiative has meant that students on 
financial aid can finish school with less debt so that they can 
concentrate on their educations instead of worrying about how they will 
pay for it. He also expanded Harvard Law School's Low Income Protection 
Plan so that law students can pursue the law-related career of their 
choice regardless of salary.
  Under his leadership, not only has Harvard maintained its standing as 
one of the premier universities of the world, but Mr. Rudenstine saw to 
it that Harvard was also a good neighbor to the community around it. 
Through his leadership, Harvard launched a $21 million affordable 
housing program in the Cambridge area. The University created more than 
700 new jobs in Greater Boston and achieved the largest operating 
surplus in Harvard's history--$120 million--during President 
Rudenstine's tenure. In addition, he led Harvard's most successful 
endowment campaign, raising an unprecedented $2.6 billion.
  Mr. Speaker, President Rudenstine will visit Washington on April 22, 
2001 for his last official journey from Cambridge to appear before 
Washington-area alumni and friends prior to his retirement on June 30, 
2001. The members of the Massachusetts delegation in the House of 
Representatives wish to express our deep appreciation for the 
contributions of Neil Rudenstine to higher education, for the spirit of 
public service which characterized his decade as Harvard's president, 
his many years of academic leadership in other universities, and for 
the grace and elegance that he brought to all he has done. We wish him 
well in every future endeavor, anticipating the continuing benefit of 
his thoughtful expertise to American higher education.

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