Despite departures, Hackney is in no hurry to abdicate his post

At some of the nation's most elite universities, presidents seem to be turning over faster than the summertime help at a fast-food restaurant. Presidents at four top universities -- Stanford, Yale, Columbia and the University of Chicago -- are currently finishing their stints in the top slot after announcing in recent months that they will step down for one reason or another. Michael Sovern's announcement last week that he will retire as Columbia's president means that President Sheldon Hackney, with more than 11 years in College Hall, will soon become the second-longest serving Ivy League president still in office. Once Sovern leaves next June, only Cornell University's Frank Rhoads, who has spent 15 years at that school's helm, will be ahead of Hackney. And Rhoads would have retired last year if Cornell's trustees had not asked him to stay. There is no need to remind Hackney, 58, of his veteran status among fellow Ivy League presidents. Still, he maintained this week, "I don't feel like a graybeard or the elderly uncle who tells everyone, 'This is how we do things.' " But with the average tenure for college presidents hovering around seven years, the question is bound to arise: Will Hackney be next to leave? · "These jobs are quite wearing," Hackney conceded of his life as a college president. "They're not forever. One has to make way for new leadership at some time." When that time may come, however, Hackney is not saying. Keenly aware of the risk of becoming a sort of lame duck in University circles if he says too much, he won't discuss when he plans to step down or what sort of time frame, if any, he has set for his departure. In an interview Tuesday, about all Hackney would say came in the form of a joke. "There will be a flash of inspiration or someone will pour a bucket of something over my head," he said, facetiously describing how he will know when it is time to leave. But he said that he has no plans to relinquish the presidency in the near future. He explained that he still finds his job "quite satisfying," although the mounting problems facing higher education have made his work harder. "I think I have been able to make a contribution to Penn and I have really grown to love it," he said. "That's not to say that every day of my life at Penn I am feeling joyful, because there is a lot of stress and strain and worries now and then." "Universities are inherently difficult places to be," he added. "But it is getting a bit more wearing because the internal stresses and strains are still here and now external stresses are becoming greater." Chief among those "external stresses," he said, is a growing funding problem. Recently, Hackney has spent much of his time working to help the University retain its state funding, which Gov. Robert Casey proposed eliminating for next year. Despite the pressure, there are a number of objectives that Hackney said he intends to fulfill before giving up the presidency. He said he plans to remain in office at least through the end of the University's $1 billion capital campaign, which is scheduled to end in 1994. Two other priorities, he said, include guaranteeing progress on the new campus center and planning for the continued growth of the Medical Center. And as if to reinforce his belief that "the University is never complete," Hackney said he felt there was work yet to be done in "the general building of the intellectual and academic fiber of the University." Once he decides to leave College Hall, Hackney will have a number of options open to him. "I think fondly of teaching and writing, which I would like to do," he said. "But there may be other things. One of the reasons I'm still here is nothing has grabbed me and said,'Do this.' " Given the chance to plan his career over again -- even with the problems facing higher education -- Hackney said he would accept the University's presidency once more. "It is a worthy challenge leading a university because they are part of the solution for humankind's problems, and it gives you a sense of pride to be contributing to this solution," he said.