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Looking for a Leader As Chancellor David Wa rd pre p a res to finish his tenure , the search for his successor is on. How hard can it be to fill one job? As those involved with the search are discovering, it can be very hard indeed. By Michael Penn MA’ 9 7 1 8 ON WISCONSIN If Bernice Durand needed of thirteen two-year colleges, and c o n f i rmation that this summer UW-Extension, which includes would be anything but a re s p i t e , Wisconsin Public Radio and Wis- she received it in the form of a consin Public Television. That gift from her husband. Before makes fifteen chancellors who making their customary summer report to Lyall, and it seems that, move to Colorado, Loyal at any given time, at least one is Durand, like Bernice a coming or going. (Until 1965, U W-Madison physics pro f e s s o r, UW-Madison’s executive leader gave her a telephone headset was called a president, and some similar to those worn by stock- schools still use that term. But the b rokers, telemarketers, and the top executives on UW campuses u l t r a - c o n n e c t e d . are now called chancellors.) The summer break usually In fact, since Lyall assumed a ff o rds the Durands a rare her post in 1992, she has hired chance to get a change of scenery twenty-five UW chancellors. One and re c h a rge for a new year, of her first searches on the job while conducting in-depth resulted in Ward’s appointment re s e a rch at a world-class physics in June of 1993. c e n t e r. But two days before the When facing the task of hiring end of the semester, Bern i c e Ward’s successor, Lyall appointed Durand was named chair of the a search committee of eleven fac- ulty, two academic staff, two stu- twenty-one-member committee dents, two administrators, and c h a rged with re c ruiting and four community members to s c reening candidates to succeed build a pool of candidates and U W-Madison Chancellor David hose engaged in the searc h winnow it down to a selection of Wa rd MS’62, PhD’63 when he T finalists. If all goes well, by late steps down at the end of the year. believe that to achieve their charg e fall the committee will present at As Loyal Durand re c o g- least five names to Lyall and a nized, that changed things. of identifying five outstanding subcommittee composed of five In early July, Bern i c e finalists, they needed to be heard members of the UW Board of Durand acknowledged over the Regents. Lyall and the subcom- lines of her new headset that by thousands. mittee will then interview the indeed things had changed. Her finalists and recommend one per- days have been filled with hun- cial start of a search for new leadership son to the full board, which ultimately d reds of phone calls, e-mails, and let- that has entangled dozens of people. To makes the hiring decision. ters about the quest to find the some, it might seem that Wa rd ’s notice When Ward first announced his u n i v e r s i t y ’s next chancellor. “So far, ” came with a luxurious amount of lead plans, Lyall expressed confidence that she says, “the search is ruling my life,” time. Eight months to fill one position the search process could be completed adding that at least she can sit on the — how hard can that be? by the end of the year, meaning that couch while she’s on the phone. As it happens, very hard. Seeking there would be no interim between When Wa rd announced in mid- out and attracting candidates at this Ward’s last day and a new chancellor’s M a rch that he planned to end his level — in a market that has become first. That goal of a seamless transition, t e n u re as chancellor, it marked the off i- highly competitive — is something that however, has relied on quick and pro- can rule not only one life, but many. ductive work by the committee during the summer and early fall, when the Facing page: the chancellor’s office, as David Ward has seen it for the past eight years. The candidate pool was being built and first-floor Bascom Hall suite has hosted TH E BO S S screened. And perhaps a little luck. every UW leader since Bascom’s south wing was completed in 1899, and there are many Hiring university chancellors is nothing Lyall knows from experience how reminders of its history. Ward’s new for Katharine Lyall. As president of tight the market for top academic lead- Federalist-style desk has been used by the UW System, she oversees all thir- ers has become. Many experienced administrators since the 1920s, and another table dates to John Bascom’s days. teen four-year UW campuses, a network administrators are now reaching FALL 2000 1 9 retirement age, paralleling a trend in the people being hired. At the University i t ’s fair to say that everyone expressed a academia often referred to as “the gray- of Florida, all six finalists for the presi- c e rtain awe” about the magnitude of the ing of the faculty.” As a result, dozens of dency dropped out of contention after position they are seeking to fill. major universities now find themselves the state government publicly debated The stakes riding on the commit- in the market for leadership. A list of the disbanding the school’s supervisory t e e ’s work are high, probably higher schools searching for top executives board. The school has now asked its than they have been during pre v i o u s within the past two years reads like a interim president to take the job chancellor searches. UW-Madison is a U.S. News rankings list: Harvard, Stan- permanently. complex engine with many parts, and a ford, Brown, Vanderbilt, the University UW-Madison is well regarded g reater share of its funding now comes of North Carolina, Purdue University, nationally and has plenty to make it f rom private donations and federal Indiana University, and the University attractive to candidates, says Lyall. But re s e a rch grants. The chancellor position of Illinois-Chicago are just a few. the university can’t afford to be compla- has evolved to be similar to that of a And if they’re not retiring, many cent. “Good people simply won’t become corporate CEO, requiring someone who university presidents are burning out on candidates unless we actively court them can be an intellectual icon on one day the twenty-four-hour-a-day require- and make a compelling case,” she says. and a visionary entre p reneur the next. ments of the job. Once able to focus pri- Thus, the pressure falls squarely on But it is not an impossible job, marily on campus affairs, modern the search committee. In charging the Durand notes. “In fact, we are hearing presidents are pulled by new stresses — group, Lyall was unequivocal about the about people out there who are doing the ever-present need to raise private importance of its task. “This committee g reat jobs now,” she says. money, the pace of technological change, literally holds the future of the UW- She adds, though, that the commit- and the creation of affiliated businesses Madison campus in the palm of its tee will not limit itself to people who are and enterprises. Those forces are erod- hand,” she said. c u rrently running universities. Histori- ing the average tenure of university c a l l y, UW-Madison has hired several presidents, especially at public universi- successful leaders from its ranks, ties. A study published by the American TH E CO M M I T T E E including Wa rd, who was a graduate Council on Education found that public- At nine o’clock on a late spring morn- student, pro f e s s o r, and administrator university presidents now serve terms of ing, the members of the search and b e f o re becoming chancellor. To find fewer than six years, the shortest aver- s c reen committee (including two con- someone capable of following Wa rd — age since the 1960s, and about half the nected via teleconference) convened in who, Lyall and Durand both say, has typical term at the beginning of the a Bascom Hall meeting room to off i- raised the standards for leadership at twentieth century. cially begin their search for a chancellor. the university — the committee has “It takes a particular type of per- The mood, says Durand, was some- looked every w h e re, both within and sonality to be a chancellor,” Lyall says. w h e re between excitement and fear. w i t h o u t . “ You must be secure in your own skills Regent President Jay Smith spoke Those engaged in the search believe and values, yet willing to let others take first, calling the job of chancellor an that to achieve their charge of identify- the credit. You must be tolerant of “awesome task.” He said that Wa rd ’s ing five outstanding finalists, they ambiguity and external political pre s- successor would be expected to “take needed to be heard by thousands.

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