Pres. search committee named today

University President Judith Rodin's successor will be chosen by a search committee of trustees, faculty and students, whose names will be released by the University -- and available on www.dailypennsylvanian.com -- at 10 a.m. today.

After Rodin announced her intention to step down at the end of this academic year, the race to find a replacement began.

Shortly after Rodin's announcement at the Board of Trustees annual meeting this past summer, the board's chairman, James Riepe, said that the year's notice should make it possible to find a permanent replacement without having to appoint an interim president.

According to experts in executive placement, the search committee should have no shortage of resum‚s to review.

"Penn, being as distinguished as it is, will... have lots of good choices," said Jerry Baker, an executive recruiter. "Penn will get the attention of almost anyone that your board approaches seriously."

Considering Penn's attractive qualities, Baker added that "certainly your board has been generous in its compensation."

With almost 30 years as an executive search consultant and over a decade with the Atlanta-based international executive search firm Baker Parker & Associates behind him, Baker has captained dozens of searches, including that for University of Michigan's new president.

Baker noted that the "fairly esoteric territory" of the search for an Ivy League president "lends itself to a small group of candidates," as the top tiers of higher education represent a relatively small, select community.

Nevertheless, Ophelia Roman, chairwoman of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, notes that "you could be in the business world and still have a passion for education -- we look at their characteristics as a person."

She added that she has no one particular in mind, and that the search committee has not yet met.

As Penn pursues potential presidents -- all of whom are likely successful at and important to the institutions they would leave to take the wheel at the University -- Baker said that keeping the list of candidates secret is of the utmost importance to a successful search for a new president.

Many Penn administrators -- including Executive Vice President Clifford Stanley -- declined to weigh in on who that new president should be. "I'm going to leave that to the experts," Stanley said.

He was confident, however, that Rodin's legacy of success will carry on into the next generation. "The momentum and the steps [the administration has] made so far -- I really think that's going to continue," Stanley said.

Taking solid, proven academic prowess as a given, Baker offered his picture of the perfect presidential candidate.

"As big as you are and as complex as you are, there are people who will say this is a 'business' to be run," Baker said, suggesting that Penn might turn to a "successful, proven business person."

Other likely candidates could include "proven presidents" currently in office at the top 25 universities in the country and current or former government officials, along the lines of Harvard University's Larry Summers and "the provost -- the second in command at other major universities."

Additionally, Penn's choice would likely have to "know a good bit about the health sciences," along with administrating a large university, as it would be an "awfully big on-the-job learning curve if they had spent their lives elsewhere."

Baker also said that there's often a "certain warmness" felt toward alumni, noting that, at Columbia University, "they went with a very good sitting president who happened to have a Columbia degree."

Senior Matt Lattman, vice chairman of the Undergraduate Assembly, said that having been a Penn student should set a candidate apart. "One of the things that made Dr. Rodin a good president for undergrads was that she was a Penn undergrad.... Penn's a very different school from all the other places."

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