Overseers Elect New Leadership

Harvard’s alumni governing body, the Board of Overseers, has elected former Vassar President Frances D. Fergusson and Boston lawyer William F. Lee ’72 to serve as president and vice chair of its executive committee, respectively, the University announced yesterday.

Fergusson and Lee, who will both begin their one-year terms following Commencement, will succeed computer science professor Susan L. Graham ’64 and psychiatrist and novelist Paul A. Buttenwieser ’60.

Elected as overseers in 2002, Fergusson and Lee are entering their final year as members of the board and have a long history of working together. Most recently, the pair served as two of the three overseers on the nine-member presidential search committee.

Lee, a co-managing partner of the law firm WilmerHale, said that during the search the pair developed valuable relationships with each other and members of the Harvard Corporation, the University’s top governing body.

Most importantly, Lee said that the search enabled Fergusson and him to build a relationship with President-elect Drew G. Faust and understand her priorities.

“Professor Faust said that she very much supports pursuing many of the things that President Summers did, in terms of undergraduate education, the science initiative, and internationalization,” Lee said. “I think the task for both of us this coming year really is to support her and all of the initiatives she intends to pursue.”

Fergusson, along with the senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, will preside over Faust’s installation as president, scheduled for Oct. 12.

“Fran [Fergusson] will provide some really special insights and support because she was a president before,” Lee said.

Fergusson, who obtained a PhD in fine arts from Harvard in 1973, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

In a statement, Interim President Derek C. Bok said the University “will be fortunate to benefit from their leadership next year.”

“Fran Fergusson and Bill Lee are extraordinarily devoted alumni whose wisdom and experience have already made great contribution to the work of the Overseers and the University,” Bok said.