Profile of a Prospect: Lee C. Bollinger

--Harvard's Next President: a candidate profile.

Fourth in an occasional series. Today: Lee C. Bollinger. Next: Kathleen M. Sullivan

In June of 1998, Lee C. Bollinger sat in Harvard's Tercentenary Theatre and watched his daughter, Carey J. Bollinger '98, receive her diploma.

Three years later, Bollinger may return to Commencement, not as a proud parent, but as the new president of Harvard University.

Bollinger, the current president of the University of Michigan, was named to the short list for the Harvard presidency early this month.

The leader of the nation's largest public research university is a well-known legal scholar and respected educator who has attained a rare distinction: remaining on that list while lacking the coveted Harvard College class year and having no previous professional affiliation with Harvard.

Since He Didn't Go Here...

Bollinger received his bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in 1968 and went on to attend Columbia Law School, where he received his J.D. in 1971 and served as an editor at the Columbia Law Review.

Even then, Bollinger was an "exceptionally bright and energetic thinker," remembers Robert L. Palmer, who was Bollinger's classmate at Columbia and another editor at the law review.

According to Palmer, Bollinger's talents weren't just intellectual--his strong personal skills helped him interact comfortably with professors who submitted their work for consideration.

"He's a real analytical character who is also a very warm human being," Palmer says.

After graduating from Columbia, Bollinger catapulted to legal success, distinguishing himself as a law clerk for both Judge Wilfred Feinberg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Chief Justice Warren Burger on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1973, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School. Fourteen years later he was named its dean.

Bollinger on Diversity

At Michigan's law school, Bollinger established himself as a diversity advocate, focusing on the treatment of the law school's minority students.

In a controversial decision, Bollinger banned the CIA and the FBI from recruiting at the law school. His decision followed court rulings which found that the FBI promotion policy discriminated against Hispanic students and that the CIA discriminated against students based on sexual orientation.

Bollinger also made national headlines in 1987, when he testified against Ronald Reagan's nomination of Judge Robert Bork for Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that Bork was incorrect in stating that only political speech--not novels, poetry or scientific papers--was protected by the First Amendment.

Later, Bollinger's outspokenness on such political issues would nearly cost him the university's presidency. But at least one colleague says that Bollinger's willingness to take a stance was a strength.

Donald N. Duquette, a professor at Michigan's law school, describes Bollinger as a "forward-looking" leader who is aware of the university's evolving goals.

He also brought a humanist's perspective to the law school's top job, Duquette says.

Duquette recounts a dinner conversation in which a newly promoted Bollinger discussed his extensive travel on the law school's behalf.

When Duquette said that Bollinger's frequent excursions must be emotionally taxing, the dean disagreed, saying that he always brought his friends along. The surprised Duquette marvelled at the size of the dean's travelling stipend.

Bollinger's response caught Duquette--and everyone else at the table--off guard. His friends were not human companions, he explained, but rather favorite volumes of poetry and Shakespeare, which he said were the source of his strength.

"I thought that was a really interesting commentary on the man," Duquette says. "It shows his depth."

During his tenure at the law school, Bollinger, a well-known First Amendment scholar, published several of his own volumes, including Images of a Free Press and The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech in America.

Go East, Young Dean

In 1994, Bollinger left Michigan to become the provost of Dartmouth College.

There he was much admired by students, who appreciated his obvious interest in undergraduate viewpoints and his willingness to meet and discuss issues.

Administrators also valued Bollinger's sharp foresight.

"He had a way of identifying issues quickly," says Margaret Dyer Chamberlain, an associate provost at Dartmouth who worked with Bollinger. In addition to taking on administrative duties, Bollinger also taught a popular undergraduate class on the First Amendment.

To the Top

In 1996, the University of Michigan presidential search placed Bollinger on a short list with provosts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of California at Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania.

Although the board of regents ended up unanimously choosing him, one regent did voice concerns about Bollinger's outspoken style on politicized issues.

Bollinger continues to speak out now.

"It's a time of tremendous innovation and excitement," he says. "The life sciences are facing a revolution in knowledge, the arts are sources of high creativity and the social sciences and professional schools on a whole are doing extremely well."

In recent months, Bollinger made national headlines again with his testimony in two class-action lawsuits brought against the university's affirmative action policy. Despite attacks that say that the policy is a form of reverse descrimination, Bollinger maintains that the policy is an essential means of ensuring diversity on campus.

University of Michigan Provost Nancy E. Cantor describes Bollinger as a "superb leader."

She praises Bollinger's "broad sense of the academic mission" and cites the university's recent Life Sciences Initiative--a $130 million project that will expand the university's research facilities--as an ideal example of Bollinger's innovation.

Jefferson K. Porter, director of development for the institute, says he was impressed by Bollinger's willingness to delve into an area unfamiliar to him not because of a personal interest, but because he "realized that it was for the greater intrinsic good of the university."

"He's somebody who really is able to distill the fundamental issues, recognize exciting concepts and bring others along in that conversation," Porter says.

Porter's reflections echo those of many who have worked with Bollinger.

Elizabeth Barry, formerly of Harvard's Office of the General Counsel and now an associate vice president and deputy general counsel at Michigan, has worked closely with Bollinger during the recent affirmative action lawsuits. Barry says that Bollinger displays "just the right combination of insipiration, dedication and savvy management."

Barry speculates that the affirmative action lawsuits would not prevent Bollinger from leaving the University of Michigan.

"Even if he were to receive and accept the Harvard post before the cases were finished, he has already laid the foundation for a successful defense," she says.

Bollinger declined to comment on whether he was interested in the Harvard presidency or if he had met with the search committe.

--Joshua E. Gewolb contributed to the reporting of this story.

--Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at shoichet@fas.harvard.edu