Levy, Leboy to help choose next president

Less than three months after University President Judith Rodin announced her decision to resign at the end of this academic year, the University has formed the search committee to locate her successor.

The group is chaired by Jim Riepe, chairman of Penn's Board of Trustees, and is comprised of eight other University trustees, eight faculty members and four students -- two undergraduates and two graduates.

"It hasn't met yet," Consultative Committee member and Student Committee on Undergraduate Education Chairwoman Ophelia Roman said. "It's meeting this week."

Once candidates are recommended by the Consultative Committee, finalists are reviewed by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees before being passed along to and voted on by the full Board of Trustees.

However, Riepe said he expects that "the full board will be supportive" of the Executive Committee's choice.

While some schools -- such as the Schools of Social Work, Veterinary Medicine and Nursing -- do not have graduates, students or faculty representatives on the committee, Riepe said he felt there was a "reasonable representation" of the Penn community on the committee.

"There's 12 schools," Riepe said. "The idea was not to have a Noah's ark."

Committee members Robert Alvarez, Graduate and Professional Student Assembly chairman, and Dierdra Reber, Graduate Student Associations Council president, did not return phone calls for comment.

Riepe stressed the need for confidentiality in the committee's operations, including the dates and locations of committee meetings.

Recalling her own experiences on the other end of the process, Rodin -- then Yale University's provost -- also emphasized the importance of keeping the proceedings secret.

"The confidentiality without question draws better candidates, because people feel freer to be part of the process," Rodin said.

In fact, according to Rodin, the committee will likely sound out potential presidents informally at first, operating in teams of two or three to visit leaders, many of whom may choose not to identify themselves as candidates so early in the game.

"When I was first approached, it was not as a candidate," Rodin said.

Former History Professor Drew Faust and then-Board Chairman Paul Miller visited Rodin at Yale, initiating a broad discussion of her "views on higher education..., thoughts about Penn and what Penn should be looking for in a president."

Rodin added that this is a typical dance between the searcher and the sought.

"It's a good cover... because it allows the committee to get to know people who would otherwise not be willing to declare themselves as candidates," Rodin said. "And it allows the individual to really get to meet people from the University and decide whether he or she might be interested down the road."

Rodin said that she expected similar visits to occur this time as well -- "the committee will definitely be on the road in the fall."

As it became clear that Penn and Rodin were "getting very serious" about her taking the reins, Rodin said that she finally told the chairman of Yale's board of trustees, as well as Yale's president, that she was considering taking the job.

"I don't think you tell all your colleagues," Rodin said. "You tell your boss, and that's typically your board chairman and your president, if you're not a president yourself."

Meeting with more and more members of the search committee and, finally, with the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, Rodin said that "it got more and more formal as the process unfolded."

A testament to the University's ability to maintain the integrity of the search process, to this day, Rodin said she does not know who her fellow finalists were.

Rodin noted that being considered for the job is not an unpleasant experience.

"The only advice I would give all the way through is to have fun," she said.

"I loved being at Yale, so for me, it was really as much trying to figure out if I wanted to be here, and that would be true for most of the... candidates.

"It is a mutual decision."

The committee

Chair, James S. Riepe, W'65, WG'67, Charter Trustee

Trustee Members Thomas Ehrlich, Esq., Term Trustee Natalie I. Koether, Esq., CW'61, L'65, Charter Trustee Andrea Mitchell, CW'67, Charter Trustee Egbert L .J. Perry, CE'76, WG'78, GCE'79, Term Trustee Alvin V. Shoemaker, W'60, HON'95, Charter Trustee David M. Silfen, C'66, Term Trustee Michael L. Tarnopol, W'58, Charter Trustee Paul C. Williams, W'67, Alumni Trustee, President, Penn Alumni

Faculty Members Howard Kunreuther, Cecilia Yen Koo Professor, The Wharton School Phoebe S. Leboy, Professor of Biochemistry, School of Dental Medicine Mitchell P. Marcus, RCA Professor of Artificial Intelligence, School of Engineering and Applied Science E. Ann Matter, Brownlee Professor of Religious Studies, School of Arts and Sciences Michael T. Mennuti, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine Charles W. Mooney, Jr., Professor of Law, The Law School Arthur Rubenstein, Executive Vice President for the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Dean of the School of Medicine Barbara D. Savage, The Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought, School of Arts and Sciences

Student Members Robert J. Alvarez, WG'04, Chair, Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Jason M. Levy, C'04, Chair, Undergraduate Assembly Dierdra J. Reber, PhD Candidate, Department of Romance Languages, President, Graduate Student Associations Council Ophelia Roman, C'05, President, Student Committee on Undergraduate Education

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