Profs say acting pres. will be from U.

A new president will not be named anytime soon, faculty leaders say, but President Sheldon Hackney's immediate successor -- an acting president -- is expected to be someone from within the University. "I think, almost certainly, it has to be someone in the University," Mathematics Professor and Faculty Senate Chairperson-elect Gerald Porter said. "Or certainly someone that has been at the University in recent years." In the past, Deputy Provost Walter Wales has been appointed to various interim positions, but faculty members have suggested that the interim president could be almost anyone. "Walter Wales will not necessarily [be appointed interim president]," said Faculty Senate Chairperson David Hildebrand. "Walter's very good at his present job. I'm sure President Hackney will have some suggestions." Regardless of who the next acting president is, faculty members say it may take a long time to find a permanent successor for Hackney. "I would hope that we would have a new president certainly no later than spring of 1994," Porter said. "Although it's kind of unrealistic, we might be able to have a new president by January 1 of '94." In the meantime, the faculty component of a presidential search committee will probably be formed at the April 28 Faculty Senate meeting. Student government officers and University trustees will also be part of the search for the next president. Hildebrand said he already has some ideas about what the next president should be like. "The hardest thing to find is someone who's not parochial," Hildebrand said. "We need someone who can look at the whole University. Recent ex-deans make natural choices." Many faculty members said a president who is not afraid to give authority, as well as wield it, would be an asset to the University. "This University is so decentralized that somebody who wanted to lead us on a dramatic crusade would get pulled in a lot of different directions by a lot of different groups," Hildebrand said. "What you might want is not necessarily someone who is a strong leader, but someone who can draw leadership out of a lot of people." Education Professor Kenneth George said that he agrees with Hildebrand. "We need someone who's not threatened by others taking leadership," George said. "[We also need] someone who has the faculty's interests at heart, a person who's got to fight a lot of battles, with the budget and otherwise." "I know one person, [Dartmouth College President] Jim Freedman, who would make a good president," Emeritus Finance Professor Morris Mendelson said Sunday. "I don't know if he's interested, but he'd be good at the position."

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