Trading in her stripes: Princeton provost next Penn pres.

Today, after about four months of searching, the Executive Search Committee will officially announce Amy Gutmann, the provost at Princeton University, as its nominee to serve as the eighth president of the University.

The announcement came after the University Trustees, flanked by Penn Press Secretary Lori Doyle, met at the Inn at Penn late yesterday. Doyle later confirmed Gutmann's nomination.

After a whirlwind search -- completed in less than half the time of the searches at Duke and Rice universities -- the upper-level administrator emerged as the top choice among the candidates.

Gutmann has been at Princeton for 28 years, serving as professor of politics before she became university provost, a post she has held for two years.

With Gutmann's appointment, Penn will be the only Ivy League university to have hired consecutive female presidents.

Like Rodin, who came from Yale, Gutmann comes to Penn after serving as provost of an Ivy League university.

Other potential candidates included current National Security Adviser and former Stanford Provost Condoleezza Rice; Drew Faust, the dean of Radcliffe Institute; and Nancy Cantor, chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, according to University officials.

Former Penn President Martin Meyerson -- who served from 1970 to 1981 -- noted that the shortlist of candidates included several high-caliber women.

James Riepe, head of the presidential search committee and chairman of the University Board of Trustees, said in a University-wide memo that he hopes Gutmann will "expand upon the tremendous momentum Penn has experienced during the past decade."

Still, Gutmann is likely to face many unfamiliar obstacles as she assumes her new post at Penn.

For instance, suburban Princeton faces far different problems than the more urban Yale University, where Rodin honed her leadership skills.

"I think it's crucial" to work with the city and the state, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said. "The University has become such an economic development driver within the City of Philadelphia that it has no choice."

Rodin "said [Gutmann] was exceptionally bright and personable, and had done a great job as the Princeton provost," he added.

Mitchell Marcus, search committee member and Engineering professor, expressed his confidence in the search committee's choice. "She understands what it's going to take to move Penn to the next level," Marcus said. The search committee sought a candidate with "a nearly impossible combination of strengths," he added.

"She's really the complete package," he said.

Chairman of the Undergraduate Assembly and College senior Jason Levy, also a search committee member, agreed that Gutmann met the committee's criteria.

"It was important to me that we pick a president that's going to be responsive to student concerns and bring our student body together," Levy said. "I think she's going to be able to do those two things very well."

Those who worked with Gutmann at Princeton noted her strong leadership capabilities and extensive career in academia.

"The University of Pennsylvania should be extremely excited," Princeton President Shirley Tilghman said. Gutmann "has been an absolutely magnificent provost," she said.

Josh Anderson, a senior at Princeton who worked with Gutmann on the University Council, said that the provost has "a clear vision for undergraduate education and the University as a whole."

Gutmann's transition period is likely to begin soon.

"I'm going to work with the [new] president, obviously, on his or her transition," Rodin said earlier this semester. "That's going to take a lot of time."

Staff reporters Leah Colins, Alex Dubilet and Cynthia Yeung contributed to this report.

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