Penn provost will step down to seek U. Texas presidency

Provost Stanley Chodorow put a definite end to speculation about his desire to be a university president Friday afternoon, announcing that he will leave Penn December 31 to pursue a top educational post. News of Chodorow's resignation came simultaneously with the University of Texas at Austin's announcement that he is one of five finalists for its vacant presidency. Although the Texas position should be filled before the end of the semester, Chodorow will leave Penn regardless of the outcome of that search. UT-Austin is at least the fourth school in the last year to contact Chodorow about presidential openings. "When it became public that I was on the list in Texas, I knew it was time," he explained. "I felt it would be unfair to Penn to be publicly involved in a search and continue as provost here." University President Judith Rodin will name an interim provost before the end of the semester and begin a search for a permanent provost "in a timely manner." "We have not made any formal plans for the transition," Rodin said last night."Figuring out its implications will take a bit of time." Texas law required UT officials to release the names of finalists for the presidency at least 21 days before the Texas Board of Regents vote on a final choice. Chodorow said the Texas announcement presented him with "the right time" to leave the post he has held at Penn Rodin's administration took office in fall 1994. "I think Penn deserves a provost who is fully engaged with Penn and not distracted with other things," he added. Rumors and questions about Chodorow's desire to leave have circulated around campus for some time. Within the last year, he was a top candidate for the presidencies of the University of Michigan, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Arizona, but failed to capture the bids. Although he did not actively seek out any of the positions, he said he intends "to become a president." "If I receive the Texas presidency, oh sure, I will accept it," he said. "But the reason why I'm resigning is not because anyone has assured me that I have a job in Texas." Instead, the public nature of the previous presidential searches has made Chodorow uncomfortable juggling his responsibilities as provost with his job searches. He refused to comment on whether he is currently seeking out other presidencies or whether he has had discussions with other schools. Rodin said Chodorow has kept her "fully informed of every search he has been in" over the past year. "I knew he was struggling," Rodin said. "He was really struggling with another public search and its impact on the institution." But she said the immediacy of his decision to resign at the end of the semester took her by surprise. "Although I knew it had been difficult for him, I didn't know how it would end," she said. The timing of the UT-Austin announcement explains the timing of Chodorow's. The short list of five candidates was narrowed from more than 100 names, and the Board of Regents needed to release the list now to satisfy their legal requirements. UT spokesperson Monty Jones said the board would reach a decision in late November or early December after interviewing all five candidates in the next few weeks. Chodorow will travel to Texas for those interviews later this month. During his three years as Penn's top academic official, Chodorow has been closely involved with initiatives ranging from the new college house plan to aspects of the University's five-year Agenda for Excellence. "The projects I've been most involved in will be handed off," Chodorow said. "I want to make sure the projects have momentum when I leave -- but they won't be deflected." He admitted that he has "mixed feelings about leaving." "I've learned a great deal here and have loved teaching the students here," he said. "But the institution will survive me leaving." But Faculty Senate Chairperson Vivian Seltzer said Chodorow's "unexpected" departure may disrupt progress on his academic initiatives. "We'll have to have a transition period and an interim provost, and that makes things complicated," she said. With the ongoing search for a permanent dean of the School of Arts and Sciences to replace Interim Dean Walter Wales,"we now see two major posts that remain to be filled," Seltzer said. Because Chodorow has been considered for other top posts, his decision Friday was "a wise one," English Professor Peter Kuriloff said. "He becomes a lame duck by constantly looking for these jobs," the former Faculty Senate chairperson said. "By becoming a finalist and constantly going off to be interviewed, and then not getting the positions, it undermines his credibility." But Engineering School Dean Gregory Farrington called Chodorow's aspirations to become president "a perfectly normal thing for a provost." Rodin herself was Yale University's provost before coming to Penn. The other candidates for the Texas presidency are University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Provost Larry Faulkner; State University of New York at Stony Brook President Shirley Strum Kenny; Ohio State University Provost Richard Sisson; and John Wiley, provost at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Former UT-Austin President Robert Berdahl left the school to become chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley. A past UT-Austin president, Peter Flawn, has served as interim president since July.