The announcement of Princeton University Provost Amy Gutmann's nomination to be Penn's next president was met with both praise and doubt.
Both Penn and Princeton officials highlighted Gutmann's exceptional academic and personal qualities, yet many expressed concern over her lack of experience in both the financial and urban development fields.
Praising the nominee -- who has been a Princeton professor since 1976 and provost since 2001 -- Princeton School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Maria Klawe said Gutmann has "been a fabulous provost."
"She has tremendous energy and vision. She really listens and will take the University in the direction the University community wants to go," Klawe added. "You are really lucky to get Amy."
Gutmann served in several administrative capacities at Princeton, including as dean of the faculty from 1995 to 1997, academic adviser to the president from 1997 to 1998, and was also previously the director of graduate studies for the Politics Department.
"She's tackled lots and lots of challenging problems, making things happen," said Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. "She has excellent people skills."
Though educated at Radcliffe College, the London School of Economics and Harvard University, Gutmann does have some experience with Penn.
Gutmann was a member of the Penn National Commission on Society, Culture and Community from 1996 to 2000, participating in the symposium alongside Penn President Judith Rodin.
Princeton officials said that Gutmann -- a Laurance S. Rockefeller University professor of Politics and director of the Princeton University Center for Human Values -- has prepared herself for the tasks ahead.
"She mastered all the details of the Princeton budget and made good choices," Slaughter said.
She added that Gutmann strengthened the connection between Princeton and New York City, and that she believes Gutmann was chosen not only for her strong academic background, but also for her personal skills and character.
She has been extensively published in scholarly journals, including Ethics, Philosophy & Public Affairs, Political Theory, Social Research and Stanford Law Review. She has also authored a book entitled Identity in Democracy.
At Princeton, she taught political philosophy, democratic theory and the history of political thought and practical ethics, winning the President's Distinguished Teaching Award. She also won the Ralph J. Bunche Award for her works in political science exploring the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism.
Yet, the nominee's immediate future as a university president may have come as a surprise even for Gutmann.
"I don't want to be a university president," Gutmann told The Daily Princetonian on Sept. 12, 2001. "The Provost's Office at Princeton is where I want to be."
When she first assumed her role as Princeton provost in 2001, Gutmann had recently been approached by various university presidential search committees, including that of Harvard University.
However, doubts still remain with regard to her ability to lead a large and urban-centered institution like Penn.
Gutmann is married to Michael Doyle, a former Princeton professor and current Columbia University law professor. The two have a daughter, Abigail Gutmann Doyle, who is currently at Harvard working toward her master's degree in chemistry and chemical biology.
