Columbia University began the second half of the twentieth century in decline, bottoming out with the student riots of 1968. Yet by the close of the century, the institution had regained its stature as one of the greatest universities in the world. According to the New York Times, "If any one person is responsible for Columbia's recovery, it is surely Michael Sovern." In this memoir, Sovern, who served as the university's president from 1980 to 1993, recounts his sixty-year involvement with the institution after growing up in the South Bronx. He addresses key issues in academia, such as affordability, affirmative action, the relative rewards of teaching and research, lifetime tenure, and the role of government funding. Sovern also reports on his many off-campus adventures, including helping the victims of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, stepping into the chairmanship of Sotheby's, responding to a strike by New York City's firemen, a police riot and threats to shut down the city's transit system, playing a role in the theater world as president of the Shubert Foundation, and chairing the Commission on Integrity in Government.

College presidents lead taxing and complex, though enormously fulfilling and rewarding, lives. The story that unfolds in College Presidents Reflect: Life in and out of the Ivory Tower is fashioned from the perspectives of over two-dozen retired former college presidents. The over-their-shoulders view we get from these men and women who have sat on the presidential perch provides an unprecedented view of the office, of the pathways to presidencies, and of the ways in which tenures conclude when presidents decide, at times pushed, to exit.

Iconic leaders are those who have become symbols of their institutions. This volume of historical studies portrays a collection of college and university presidents who acquired iconic qualities that transcend mere identification with their institution. The volume begins with Roger L. Geiger's observation that creating and controlling one's image requires managing publicity. Andrea Turpin describes how Mount Holyoke Seminar's evolution into a modern women's college required reshaping the image of Mary Lyon, its founder. Roger L. Geiger and Nathan M. Sorber show how College of Philadelphia provost William Smith's partisan politics and patronage tainted the college he symbolized. Joby Topper reveals how presidents Seth Low of Columbia and Francis Patton of Princeton mastered the modern art of publicity. Katherine Chaddock explains how John Erskine¿the Columbia University English professor responsible for the first Great Books program¿and his unusual career inverted the normal route to iconic status. In contrast, Christian Anderson's analysis of John G. Bowman, chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, shows how he substituted architectural vision for academic leadership. James Capshew explores the background that made Herman Wells a revered leader of Indiana University. Nancy Diamond details how building Brandeis University involved a challenging series of decisions successfully navigated by founding president Abram Sachar. Finally, Ethan Schrum depicts how Clark Kerr's controversial understanding of the role of contemporary universities was formed by his earlier career in industrial relations. This study of iconic leaders probes new dimensions of leadership and the construction of institutional images.

Research universities are unique in American education in the degree to which they are sensitive to policies of the national government. According to Robert Rosenzweig, it is impossible to understand the recent past, the present, and the future of the university without understanding the political process that determines those policies -- including the various ways universities have tried, with mixed results, to shape them to their own ends. In The Political University, the former Stanford administrator and president of the Association of American Universities offers an insider's perspective on research universities, the AAU, and the Washington political agenda. Drawing on thirty years of professional experience, Rosenzweig discusses the problems and prospects of American research universities in light of such issues as shifting federal policies, resource constraints, increased partnerships with business and industry, and the changing needs and perceptions of the larger society. His book also brings other valuable perspectives to the discussion -- those of twelve former university presidents, all of whom served through the 1980s, all of whom left office around 1990 for various reasons, and none of whom will ever hold a presidency again. This edition contains a new introduction, which brings some of the issues dealt with in the book into sharper relief. In candid and wide-ranging discussions with Rosenzweig, the former presidents examine the complex political process on which the modern research university depends -- and through which the modern university president must lead constituents. "A very readable and excellent portrait of today's American research university." -- Clark Kerr, President Emeritus, University of California

Widely regarded as one of the most active and publicly engaged university presidents in modern academia, Duderstadt--who led the University of Michigan from 1988 to 1996--presided over a period of enormous change, not only for his institution, but for universities across the country. His presidency was a time of growth and conflict: of sweeping new affirmative-action and equal-opportunity programs, significant financial expansion, and reenergized student activism on issues from apartheid to codes of student conduct. Under James Duderstadt’s stewardship, Michigan reaffirmed its reputation as a trailblazer among universities. Part memoir, part history, part commentary, The View from the Helm extracts general lessons from his experiences at the forefront of change in higher education, offering current and future administrators a primer on academic leadership and venturing bold ideas on how higher education should be steered into the twenty-first century.