Neil Leon Rudenstine - Life and Career

Life and Career

Rudenstine was born in Danbury, Connecticut, the son of Mae (née Esperito) and Harry Rudenstine, a prison guard. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant from Kiev, while his mother was Catholic and the daughter of immigrants from Campobasso in Italy. He attended the Wooster School in Danbury, 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. He studied the humanities at Princeton University (A.B. 1956) and participated in Army R.O.T.C. After serving in the U.S. Army as an artillery officer he 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. 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, overseeing a period of highly successful growth of Harvard's endowment. 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. He is also known for his initially hostile response to the Harvard Living Wage Campaign of 1998-2001, an initiative that drew the active support of thousands of students, faculty, and alumni including the late Senator Ted Kennedy. 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.