Bok Chooses Turner to Chair Shareholder Responsibility Unit

Donald F. Turner, professor of Law, will chair the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility this year.

Turner said yesterday that President Bok offered him the chairmanship of the 15-member student-faculty-alumni group earlier this fall, and that he does not yet know who the other members of this year's ACSR will be.

Still Trying

Bok said yesterday that he is "still trying to put together the committee" and would neither confirm nor deny that he has chosen Turner to head the ACSR.

However, Turner said he has already accepted the championship of the committee.

Reluctant at First

Turner said he was reluctant at first to accept the post because he is also scheduled to serve on the Law School's administrative board, but he said he is trying to delay his ad board term.

Turner is the second chairman of the two-year-old ACSR and the second law professor to fill the post.

Stanley S. Surrey, Smith Professor of Law and the chairman of the ACSR for its first two years of operation, said yesterday that a legal background is helpful for ACSR members.

"Some of the issues do have a legal tinge," Surrey said. "A legal background helps in sorting out relevant and irrelevant information," he said.

Expertise

Neither Surrey nor Turner is an expert on corporate law; Surrey's special field is tax law and Turner's is anti-trust and economic regulations.

The ACSR each spring considers a series of proxy resolutions directed at corporations in which Harvard owns stock. It makes recommendations on whether or not Harvard should support the resolutions, and a subcommittee of the Harvard Corporation then decides how the University will vote on them.

Bok said he will announce the full membership of the ACSR in about two weeks, and that he is still searching for alumni to serve on it.