BECOMING THE UNIVERSITY: EARLY PRESIDENTIAL DISCOURSES OF GORDON GEE By Michael W. Rishell A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY HIGHER, ADULT AND LIFELONG EDUCATION 2011 Abstract BECOMING THE UNIVERSITY: EARLY PRESIDENTIAL DISCOURSES OF GORDON GEE By Michael W. Rishell The author explores Gordon Gee’s career as a university president. There is a special focus on the journey Gee made between 1990, when he first became president of The Ohio State University, to 2007, when he returned to Ohio State for another term as university president ten years later. During this time away from Ohio State, he served as the president (or chancellor) of both Brown University and Vanderbilt University. Data are reviewed from these presidencies, as well. Individual discourse, professional discourse, and organizational discourse were examined through a variety of data, including discourse analyses of the speeches given by Gee in the early days of each of these four presidencies. The dissertation provides a model, The Triangle of Leadership Discourse, which serves to illustrate the necessary balance of discourses which must remain in harmony with one another for the tenure of leadership to be successful. Copyright by MICHAEL W. RISHELL 2011 Dedication To my wife, Ann Snyder Rishell, and my daughter, Sabine Rishell: No one makes me laugh like you do, and no one makes me happier. Thank you, both, for making this possible. iv Acknowledgements First of all, a grand thank you to my committee: Marilyn Amey, you made this happen and I will forever be grateful. Should this faculty career not work out, you have a future as an editor. And any future notes to you will include plenty of hyphens and sentences that start with “And”. Avner Segall, you have been a constant source of inspiration. John Dirkx, thank you for showing me the world. MaryLee Davis, thank you especially for always believing in me. To my colleagues in the Tweed Cohort: We meshed, didn’t we. Special thanks are due to Melissa McDaniels, Mike Messner, and Jen Hodges. All of you helped me continue. To all my employers, I am grateful for all of the free photocopies – even if you didn’t know about it. Likewise, I appreciate all the stolen time that I used to work on this seemingly- never-ending project. To my informants, thank you for your availability, your willingness to participate, and your trust. There is a special thank you to Becki Crowell, who never questioned my requests but simply enabled me. You made this a much easier journey. And finally, to anyone who has ever doubted or slighted me. Your punishment is to read this tome word for word. v Table of Contents Chapter One – An Introduction and Rationale ........................................................................1 Statement of the Problem and Research Question.............................................................2 Method and Conceptual Framework..................................................................................5 Definition of Terms........................................................................................................................9 The Multiversity.................................................................................................................9 The Ohio State University ...............................................................................................10 Discourse..........................................................................................................................11 Organizational Saga.........................................................................................................12 Individual-Organizational Fit...........................................................................................13 Positional Discourse.........................................................................................................14 University Presidency ......................................................................................................15 Study Limitations and Assumptions ............................................................................................15 Role of the Author ...........................................................................................................15 Summary......................................................................................................................................16 Chapter Two – A Review of the Relevant Literature.............................................................18 An Introduction................................................................................................................18 Discourse as a Tool of Inquiry and Interpretation .......................................................................18 Individuals and Their Relation to Organizations.........................................................................24 Institutional Discourse and Organizational Saga.............................................................30 Positional Discourse and Power.......................................................................................40 The University Presidency...........................................................................................................42 Summary......................................................................................................................................46 Chapter Three – Research Design............................................................................................47 Introduction and the Application of Qualitative Research ..........................................................47 Document Analysis..........................................................................................................48 Identifying Informants and Securing Interviews .............................................................50 Observation......................................................................................................................53 Discourse Analyses of Early Presidential Speeches ........................................................54 Study Limitations.............................................................................................................58 Summary......................................................................................................................................60 Chapter Four – Findings...........................................................................................................61 Knowing Gordon Gee – A Discourse of Personal History Built of Time and Experience .........66 Vernal, Utah – The Roots of the Personal Discourse of Gordon Gee .............................67 Ohio State – Take One.....................................................................................................69 Elizabeth Gee...................................................................................................................73 Leaving Ohio State and Leading Brown..........................................................................78 Leading Vanderbilt ..........................................................................................................83 The Return to Ohio State .................................................................................................92 vi Additional Personal Challenges Following Gee’s Return to Ohio State .........................95 Observing Leadership in Business Theatre..................................................................................96 Personalizing Leadership.................................................................................................99 Other Perspective on Gordon Gee .............................................................................................102 Ohio State and Organizational Saga ..........................................................................................114 Presenting an image of Ohio State to prospective students and alumni ........................119 Using the Discourse of the University.......................................................................................121 Chapter Five – Interpretations...............................................................................................123 The Interplay of the Discourses .................................................................................................124 Harmony of Discourses – The Triangle of Leadership Discourse.............................................126 Negotiating Discourses ..................................................................................................126 Individual Discourse ......................................................................................................129 Professional Discourse...................................................................................................130 Organizational Discourse...............................................................................................132 The Four Speeches.....................................................................................................................134 Implications................................................................................................................................144 Conclusions................................................................................................................................149 Appendix