Reardon Replaces Alumni Affairs Vice-President

On July 1, Fred L. Glimp '50 will be replaced by Thomas M. Reardon as the University's vice-president for alumni affairs and development, the University announced yesterday.

Glimp will step down after spending the better part of 40 years as a University administrator, having been at Harvard for most of his life since he enrolled in 1946. Most recently, he has overseen the University's $2.1 billion capital campaign.

He will continue fund-raising for Harvard in a senior consulting role, working about half-time.

This shift in power was not unexpected. Glimp, who will turn 70 next week, said that he had been contemplating this move since the beginning of the capital campaign, and that he and Rudenstine made the final decision last summer.

Reardon moves up in the Development Office after working as the Associate Vice-President for Development. He said in an interview yesterday that he does not anticipate significant changes in the University's fund-raising strategy when he takes over.

"We may make some changes in individual departments, but the overall broad structure will remain the same," Reardon said.

Reardon said he is grateful that Glimp will still work in the office part-time, terming his contacts with alumni as "irreplaceable."

The multiple roles Glimp has played over the years--ranging from student to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid to Dean of Harvard College--are one of his most valuable assets, Reardon said.

"Fred has built a good organization over the years, so in time we'll be able to fill in what Fred has done," Reardon said. "I think that's why it's so important that he's not going off right away."

Glimp said he will be looking forward to his new position.

"Fund-raising, to me, is a lot of fun," Glimp said. "Now Tom will have to take care of the administrative part and I'll just be doing the fun part."

Reardon's promotion is unusual in that the new position will effectively place him as his brother's boss. His brother, John P. Reardon Jr. '60, works as the Executive Director of the Harvard Alumni Association.

"We will work closely together, as we have for the last five or six years," Reardon said. "In most universities there's a struggle between alumni affairs and development, but here it won't be a problem."

Reardon also admits that his appointment is noteworthy since even though he will be in charge of Alumni Affairs, he is not an alumnus of Harvard College.

"My father, brother and son have been Harvard alumni, and I've been here 22 years," Reardon quipped. "So I would say I'm an alumnus in spirit if not an actual son of the University.