Provost John Etchemendy is one of a handful of candidates “at the front of the pack” for final-round interviews to become Harvard’s next president, The Harvard Crimson reported Tuesday.

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Provost John Etchemendy near the quad. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/6666
Courtesy of Stanford News Service

Provost John Etchemendy near the quad.

Citing “two individuals familiar with the group’s activities,” Crimson reporters Javier Hernandez and Daniel Schuker named Etchemendy and three others as “those being most seriously considered by the [selection] committee.”

Interviews are reportedly scheduled for this month. The nine-member committee tentatively hopes to select a candidate in February, according to The Crimson.

Despite the latest revelation, Etchemendy continues to say publicly that he is not interested in the job. Etchemendy told The Daily in September that he has “no intention or desire to leave my current position, which I believe is the best position in higher education.”

The provost reiterated his position late Tuesday night, telling The Daily that “nothing has changed.”

“There’s only so many ways of saying it,” he wrote in an email, though he did not directly respond to questions about whether he has a scheduled interview in Cambridge or plans to visit Boston.

“Sources close to the committee have said that the group is not paying attention to candidates’ publicly stated interest or disinterest in the presidency,” according to The Crimson.

The other three names mentioned as finalists by the Harvard campus paper were Radcliffe Institute Dean Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan and University of Cambridge leader Alison F. Richard.

Etchemendy, 54, is apparently considered a strong candidate because of his background as an administrator (Stanford provost since 2000) and extensive time in academia (24 years at Stanford).

The Harvard job was vacated by Larry Summers, a former Clinton Treasury secretary who clashed with faculty and was criticized for remarks about women in science.

Etchemendy, the University’s chief academic and budgetary official, was one of 11 names identified by The Crimson on Dec. 5 and confirmed by The Boston Globe as presidential candidates.

A Costa Rican gambling house placed the odds of Etchemendy being named as president at 4 to 1 in August, the third-most-likely to gain the post at the time.