"Another way of asking the same question would be “Would Zimmer be successful as Harvard’s President?” . . . "“In other words are Presidents at these two Universities essentially interchangeable? Or are these schools so different that a failure at one could succeed wildly at the other and a success at one may be an abject failure at the other.”
IMO Zimmer would not work out well at Harvard and the latter wouldn’t be asking anyway. UChicago is a different university - in philosophy and goals - than Harvard. And they have different priorities. As just one example: Zimmer advocates for freedom of speech and academic inquiry. Harvard restricts association with the “wrong clubs.”
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/5/6/college-sanctions-clubs-greeklife/