A military man to lead Penn's businesses?

Major General Clifford Stanley is set to take command of Penn's business activities next month.

But although he inherits the University's top business post, Stanley has virtually no background in higher education and an unconventional experience in business to say the least.

So the question is, where did Penn find its new executive vice president?

According to University President Judith Rodin, the answer is not where you would expect.

Although Rodin worked with consulting firm Spencer Stuart in her search for a new EVP, she said Stanley was not part of the firm's original pool of candidates. Instead, she personally identified him as a candidate after watching a video of him speaking during a Wharton MBA leadership program.

Management Professor Michael Useem served as the initial link between Stanley and Rodin. For the past two years, Useem has led 90 MBA students on a simulated boot camp expedition at Quantico, Va., the Marine base where Stanley works and the place where he made his first impression on Penn representatives.

Useem said he was pleased to find out that Stanley had been selected as a candidate for the position vacated when John Fry stepped down to become president of Franklin and Marshall College.

"My own reaction was I was totally delighted that he would even consider," Useem said. "And equally delighted, I guess, that Judy Rodin was considering him."

"He was extremely compelling, and that began the process of whether we could woo him out of his current position and into this one," Rodin said.

Stanley, currently the deputy commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, was named EVP on Sept. 6 and is scheduled to assume his position in mid-October.

Although Rodin's selection of a military official as the University's chief operating officer may have surprised many members of the Penn community, some experts in the headhunting field say this choice is not as nontraditional as it may seem.

"I have seen it, and it's not unusual," said Kim Morrisson, managing director and practice leader for higher education at Diversified Search, a Philadelphia executive search firm. "It usually reflects a desire for someone who has been in a situation of clear accountability and has a significant amount of management experience but may not be coming out of the private sector."

But Rodin said that it is Stanley's skills as a leader -- rather than the fact that he comes from a military background -- that made him the ideal EVP candidate.

"He might have developed those skills anywhere because he's a very special individual, and he's somebody who's really trained to think about leadership," Rodin said. "Cliff Stanley as a person may have developed [his skill set] in any field that he may have entered."

Stanley seems to fit this description well. During his 30-year military career, his duties have ranged from heading a battle assessment team during Desert Storm to serving as a leadership instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy. His current role at the Quantico base includes overseeing the Marine Corps' training and education programs, concept development and planning initiatives.

Morrison noted that many of the same skills are required of administrators in both the military and in higher education.

"The folks who have come up through the ranks in the military... are usually responsible for vast amounts of resources, both human capital and financial," Morrison said. "Many people have had educational roles in the military... organizing major teaching and programmatic initiatives, or they have had responsibility for some kind of national academy activity."

Ellen Heffernan, managing vice president of the Massachusetts-based Spelman and Johnson Group, agreed and noted the overlap between the fields.

"In many ways, [the military] has very similar functions to an institution," Heffernan said. "It's not surprising in lots of ways, but much of it does depend on what their background is in the military."

"The current military is very big on all sorts of education for military men and women in the service," Heffernan added. "There's a learning emphasis on this particular military at this point in time."

This may be one of the reasons why increasing numbers of military officials are considering administrative positions at colleges and universities, Heffernan said.

"When they look at places to go, they look at similar experiences, and in some cases higher education has a good overlap with that," Heffernan said.

Rodin said that responses from faculty and staff members have been very positive since Stanley's appointment.

"The reactions I have gotten have been marvelous," Rodin said. "Once you meet him, he is a very captivating individual and very open and positive, and I think we're all looking forward to his arrival."

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