Neil Leon Rudenstine

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Neil Leon Rudenstine (born January 21, 1935) is an American educator, literary scholar, and administrator.

Rudenstine grew up in Danbury, Connecticut, where he attended the Wooster School on a scholarship and was selected to participate in Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program. He is an Episcopalian of partly Jewish descent [1]. He studied the humanities at Princeton University (A.B. 1956) and later attended New College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, where he received another B.A. and an M.A. In 1964, he received a Ph.D. in English literature from Harvard University. His dissertation, directed by Douglas Bush, was on the poetic development of Sir Philip Sidney.

Most of Rudenstine's career has been dedicated to educational administration. Between 1968 and 1988, Rudenstine was a faculty member and senior administrator at Princeton University. A scholar of Renaissance literature, he was an associate professor and then a professor of English. He also held a series of administrative posts: dean of students (1968-72), dean of the college (1972-77), and provost (1977-88). Previously, Rudenstine served at Harvard from 1964 to 1968 as an instructor and then an assistant professor in the Department of English and American Literature and Language. After his time as provost of Princeton University, he served as executive vice-president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation from 1988 to 1991, followed by serving as president of Harvard University from 1991 to 2001. At Harvard he gained a reputation as an effective fundraiser. He was known as a very mild-mannered president, supporting the arts and humanities and generally avoiding internal controversy, usually taking a hands-off approach to leading the university. In November 1994, citing exhaustion, he took a three-month leave of absence, during which provost Albert Carnesale served as acting president.

Rudenstine currently serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board for ARTstor, as well as teaching a yearly seminar in 20th century poetry at Princeton University.

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, a former director of the American Council on Education, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Philosophical Society, and the Committee for Economic Development. Earlier, he was a member of various advisory groups, including the National Commission on Preservation and Access and the Council on Library Resources. Rudenstine has also served as a trustee of the College Entrance Examination Board and of the Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut, of which he is a graduate. He is currently on the Board of the New York Public Library, the Goldman Sachs Foundation, the Barnes Foundation, as well as many others both in the United States and in Europe.

Academic offices
Preceded by Derek C. Bok	President of Harvard University 1991–2001	Succeeded by Lawrence Summers