When John Wooden took over as head basketball coach at UCLA in 1948, the team was coming off a 12-13 season. They were at the bottom of their conference virtually every year, and the program seemed to be heading nowhere fast.
In Wooden's first season, the Bruins went 22-7 and won 10 games in their conference. Wooden went on to win 11 NCAA titles at UCLA, taking that team from the bottom of the barrel to become one of the top programs in the nation.
But Wooden left in 1975, and since then, the UCLA basketball program has plummeted. There was some success after his departure, but with only one national championship in nearly 30 years, the school has yet to reclaim its elite status in the three decades since. They were at the top of the mountain, and a change in leadership brought them crumbling down.
The presidency of Judith Rodin can be looked at in a similar light. When Rodin was named president in 1994, Penn was clearly the outcast in the Ivy League. Rankings were low, the campus was unsafe and the school's reputation was in shambles.
Ten years later, Penn has become a top-five school with a sterling reputation and application numbers to prove it. New facilities, a police force and one strategic plan later, Penn is one of the elite schools in the nation, leaving many of its Ivy League peers behind.
Like Wooden, Rodin is stepping down at the top of her game. Now comes the hard part: finding a successor for Rodin who will stay the course and piggyback on the success of the past decade. As Wooden would likely tell us, picking the wrong person for the job could send this university into a major tailspin.
What Penn needs is someone with business savvy. Being president of this school means dealing with local business leaders and politicians on a regular basis. It requires the ability to make connections, handle negotiations and raise money at the drop of a hat.
Rodin says her successor should be someone who loves this university and has the leadership skills to connect with the community and the city. She also says her successor should be someone who "has demonstrated an understanding of what an urban university really is all about."
Not long ago, there was a man at this school who met all of these criteria. Now, search committee members should go knock on his door -- in the president's office at Franklin & Marshall.
John Fry is exactly the man this university needs to continue Rodin's successful ways. Experience? Seven years as executive vice president of this school. He was the mastermind behind the University City District and worked tirelessly to revitalize the West Philadelphia area. Fry was so prepared for Penn to purchase the postal lands that he already had a campus development plan -- and a PowerPoint presentation to prove it -- in place well before the deal was signed.
Penn needs someone who can step right in, not someone who needs time to learn on the job. With facilities that need renovating, buildings under construction and a new strategic plan ready to go, one false move from a rookie president could have a domino effect. With his knowledge, dedication and experience, Fry could walk into College Hall on day one and give orders.
But he wouldn't. His friends will tell you he doesn't tinker. Fry is a leader who trusts his colleagues to get the job done. He handpicked virtually the entire business side of the University when he came over from the world of consulting, and his team has helped steadily build this school's endowment to the level at which it currently stands.
This is precisely why Fry's biggest drawback -- he doesn't have a Ph.D. -- is not even an issue. College presidents are becoming more and more like CEOs every day. Why should Penn fight the trend? Fry will trust his provost and deans to get the job done on the academic side of the ball. Besides, what's wrong with leaving the business side to the president and the academic side to the chief academic officer?
Fry would need a strong academic voice in the provost's office, especially if current Provost Robert Barchi leaves with Rodin, as some expect him to do. A seasoned academic with leadership experience like current SAS Dean Sam Preston would fit the bill nicely. He's well respected, especially among professors and administrators at Penn, and he has proven that he will do whatever it takes -- new professors, new facilities, even new certificates -- to keep SAS on par with Penn's other schools.
Together, Fry and Preston, two people who worked on the new strategic plan, would be the perfect team to lead Penn on the path blazed by Rodin. Both have the leadership skills, the experience and the intimate knowledge of this university to succeed immediately.
UCLA is still looking for the basketball coach to bring them back to glory. Penn had someone who helped bring us to glory in the first place. It's time to drive out to Lancaster and bring him back.
Steve Brauntuch is a senior Communications major from Tenafly, N.J. and editorial page editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian.
