List of top U.S. leaders leaves off Gutmann

With female presidents now comprising half of the Ivy League's leadership, it's getting hard to come out on top.

Just look at Penn President Amy Gutmann.

Brown University President Ruth Simmons and Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman were included among U.S. News & World Report's 18-person list of America's Best Leaders, published yesterday.

Their female Ivy counterparts, Gutmann and Harvard University President Drew Faust were noticeably left off.

Still, public relations experts say that the academic leaders' absence is not a bad reflection of their skills.

"In some cases, it's a question of seniority - who has been around longer, who seems to have been more of a pioneer," said Barbara Kellerman, founder of Harvard's Center for Public Leadership and one of 37 members on the selection committee.

The description of the search criteria is vague: The committee members - composed of academic, government, business and nonprofit leaders - based 25 percent of the decision on the honorees' ability to set direction, 50 percent on their ability to achieve results and 25 percent on how well they cultivated a culture of growth.

In particular, Kellerman pointed to Tilghman's work in advancing women at Princeton - in fact, she appointed Gutmann as provost early in her career.

"I think it's terrific that Presidents Simmons and Tilghman earned recognition on the U.S. News' list of America's Best Leaders," Gutmann said. "Their inclusion on the list serves as an important indicator of higher education's critical role in this country and how universities benefit our society and our world."

Simmons and Tilghman refused to comment for this article.

Outside PR experts say the high representation of Ivy League women presidents reflects well on all four of the female presidents.

"The issue is not gender; the issue is leadership," said Committee co-chairman and director of Harvard's Center for Public Leadership David Gergen.

"Who winds up on the final list very much reflects the views of a large majority of those who are voting," said Gergen.

w"Next week, U.S. News will be recycled paper, and other news subjects will appear," she said. "Next year, there will be another list of leaders."

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