The University Record, October 21, 1996
‘A stamp of excellence’
Prior to releasing the names of the four recommended candidates, Presidential Search Advisory Committee Chair Jeffrey Lehman elaborated briefly on who they are “and why we as a committee are so enthusiastic about them.”
He described the attributes they share, “attributes that we, as your advisers, believe are exactly what this University needs in its next president.”
“In many ways, these people are strikingly similar. And by that we mean, in the ways that your demanded through your stringent position criteria.”
—“Each of these four people is a person of the highest integrity.
—‘”Each of these four people knows how to listen.
—“Each of these four people is curious about the world, always eager to learn more about aspects of life in which they are not experts.
—“Each of these four people is an accomplished scholar. They all understand what it means to struggle to produce scholarship of the very highest quality.
—“Each of these four people has a lot of energy. They are ready to become president of a great university, and to devote a decade or more to the strenuous challenge of university leadership.
—“Each of these four people loves the craft of teaching. They see the relationship between scholar and student as the centerpiece of the University, a relationship that must be nurtured and developed.
—“Each of these four people knows and loves the public university. Each is committee tot he special responsibilities of leading a public institution.
—“Each of these four people is decent and admirable. They all have wonderful senses of humor. They all have a genuine humility that will lead them to criticize me later for saying all these nice things about them.
“Of course they have strikingly similar professional careers as well. Each has been the provost of a fist-class university since 1994. Each had prior experience as a dean. Each has spent the vast majority of his or her career working at a great public university.
“But do not get the impression that they are all the same person. Lee’s specialty is law, Stan’s is medieval history, Carol’s is Victorian literature, and Larry’s is electrochemistry.
“They have different personal styles, different modes of leadership, different areas of special interest.
“If you choose among them, and we urge you to choose among them, your selection will make an enormous difference.
“Each of these people would leave a profound stamp on the University of Michigan. Each stamp would be decidedly different, and the choice of which stamp is significant. What we can assure you today is that, if you choose one of these four remarkable individuals, you will be choosing for the University of Michigan a stamp of excellence.”
