Des Moines Register
05-28-07
Universities across state letting older leaders rule
By ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Iowa City, Ia. - When Willard "Sandy" Boyd became University of Iowa president
in 1969, he was 42, and he and his wife, Susan, had three children who had not
yet graduated from high school.
Today's university presidents - whose average age is 60 - are more likely to be
grandparents.
"You're looking for someone good, and age doesn't make that much difference,"
said Boyd, 80, who still teaches at the U of I College of Law.
The average age of college presidents has increased from 52.3 in 1986 to nearly
60 in 2006, according to a February report by the American Council on
Education. The U of I presidential search committee, now in its final push to
narrow candidates for the university's top job, must consider how age factors into
the hunt.
"It's certainly a different profile," search committee chairman David Johnsen said
about the aging presidential pool. "If someone is 60 years old and has the energy
to do the job, I don't think age is an issue."
The search committee hopes to find someone willing to stay in the job for at least
seven years, which would allow time to understand the university and make
progress toward long-term goals.
But seven years may be an unrealistic expectation, said Jean Dowdall, senior
vice president with Witt/Kiefer executive search firm and author of the book
"Searching for Higher Education Leadership: Advice for Candidates and Search
Committees."
"They might say they only want to work until they are 70, and they are 65 now,"
Dowdall said of candidates.
The U of I's last two presidents, David Skorton and Mary Sue Coleman, were 52
when they took office.
John Bowman, the first Iowa native and U of I alumnus to become president, was
only 34 when he took the helm in 1911. Bowman led the U of I for only three
years before Thomas Macbride - the U of I's oldest president at age 66 succeeded him.
Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy was 54 when he took office
in 2001. Ben Allen was 59 when he became University of Northern Iowa's
president last June.
West Virginia University made waves earlier this spring by naming 38-year-old
Michael Garrison as the school's 22nd president. Garrison is one of the youngest
college presidents in the country, and perhaps the youngest at a public research
university, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Boyd was one of the youngest U of I presidents when he started his presidential
term, which lasted from 1969 to 1981. But he was by far the oldest president, at
age 75, to take the helm of the U of I when he served as the interim president in
2002-2003.
Reporter Erin Jordan can be reached at (319) 351-6527 or ejordan@dmreg.com