September 24, 1999

Stanford's Presidential Search Adds to Competition Among Elite Institutions; Wisconsin Professor Keeps Tenure Despite Jail Term for Lying

By JULIANNE BASINGER and COURTNEY LEATHERMAN

Gerhard Casper's announcement last week that he plans to step down as president of Stanford University next year stunned many people in academe, but some of his former colleagues at the University of Chicago had heard as early as this past spring that he was thinking of leaving. Now, the two institutions may find themselves competing for the same candidates as they both search for new leaders.

Mr. Casper, a constitutional-law scholar, served more than a dozen years as Chicago's provost