The DP's analysis of the new executive vice president is also available online.
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Clifford Stanley will serve as Penn's new executive vice president, University President Judith Rodin announced Friday.
Stanley, currently the deputy commanding general of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, Va., is scheduled to assume his role in mid-October. He will replace John Fry as Penn's top business executive.
Fry left in July to become president of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.
"It is really for Cliff's leadership skills and his terrific capacity to develop great people and to get the best out of people that made me so excited and made the effort to extract him from an extraordinarily successful career... in the Marine Corps worth the pursuit," Rodin said. "And indeed, it was a pursuit."
"His impressive record throughout his distinguished military career really, in our view, makes him the ideal choice to be executive vice president, particularly as we are about to implement our next strategic plan," she said
University Board of Trustees Chairman James Riepe echoed Rodin's sentiments.
"I'm very excited," Riepe said. "I think he is both a first-rate individual, as well as having a record of extensive administrative and management experience and of leadership."
"I think he's going to be an important contribution not only to the University, but also to the Philadelphia community," he added.
Stanley's 30-year military career has transported him around the world, where his duties have ranged from heading a battle assessment team in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm to serving as a psychology and leadership instructor for the U.S. Naval Academy.
He spent the last two years serving at the 60,000-acre Quantico base, where he oversaw the U.S. Marine Corps training and education, concept development and planning programs. In 2001, he served as commanding general of the base, managing a staff of more than 300 people and supervising a $133 million budget. He was also the Marine Corps principal representative to the Joint Requirements Board in support of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
His honors include being recipient of the 2002 NAACP Roy Wilkins Renowned Service Award, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Medal with Gold Star and the Navy Commendation Medal.
In Stanley's new role as EVP, he will oversee a number of University divisions, including finances, investments, human resources, business services, real estate, information systems, public safety and internal audit and compliance. He will also deal with community initiatives and help Rodin and other administrators implement the University's new strategic plan.
Stanley said he sees the EVP position as a "perfect fit" for him.
"What I see here I'm really excited about," he said.
Although he has not yet laid out clear objectives for his new position, he said he will follow through with the projects that were left unfinished after Fry's departure.
"Anything that has been started I will certainly be trying to continue," he said.
Rodin, who spent the summer interviewing candidates for the position, said she is confident that Stanley is up to the challenges that he will be faced with at Penn.
"Cliff Stanley is an implementer," Rodin said. "He's a doer, and he's somebody who really makes things happen."
Rodin stressed Stanley's commitment to community-based issues and his ability to work well with different types of people. Part of that may stem from his academic background, which includes a bachelor's degree in psychology from South Carolina State University and a master's degree in counseling from Johns Hopkins University.
In addition, for the past two years, he has worked with Wharton students at the Quantico base, and last October he was invited to Penn to speak about leadership. He also served as a White House Fellow alongside Wharton Dean Patrick Harker.
Stanley is well known to the Philadelphia community. Earlier this year, he was in the running to become head of the city's school system, but withdrew himself from the process because he "sensed that it wasn't the right thing."
"You really want that symbiotic kind of relationship where it really is your passion, and you know that all the things fit," Stanley said. However, he said this new position was "fit for me, whereas there were things there that weren't going to fit."
Rodin said Stanley's decision to accept her offer sparked "a tremendous amount of response on the part of the Marine Corps." According to Rodin, he was offered a promotion that would have made him the senior African American in the Marine Corps and earned him a military third star.
Stanley said that although he did have some doubts about leaving the Marine Corps and is anxious about his transition to Penn, his ultimate decision was a combination of "timing, opportunity, [and] a sensing that I could make more of an impact now in this place here."
"I'm at a point in my life where I really, really want to make a difference," Stanley said. "I thought I could make more of a difference here."
Stanley will officially step down from his Marine Corps post on September 25. He is tentatively scheduled to assume his EVP role on October 15.
