Filling a big Penn vacancy

With Wednesday's announcement that Executive Vice President John Fry will leave Penn to become the president of Franklin and Marshall College, the University is left with the daunting task of filling a top-level vacancy.

Fry may be leaving the Franklin Building to make a new home at F&M;, but his fingerprints are all over the Penn campus.

Fry helped the University rethink its retail strategy -- luring various local vendors, including the Freshgrocer, to campus -- in an effort to raise the quality of life at Penn.

He was key in the creation of the showpiece Sansom Common complex.

He helped to dramatically reduce crime rates and to improve relations with the West Philadelphia community through various initiatives with the University City District -- an organization that he was instrumental in founding.

Furthermore, the Lafayette graduate is also credited with much of the development and implementation of the Agenda for Excellence, a five-year formula announced in 1995 to improve the University's financial status, physical state and national rank.

Despite the intense demands of the position, some administrators say finding Fry's replacement will be easier in part due to the revitalization Penn has experienced under his tenure.

"It is a tremendous loss to have John go," Vice President for Facilities Services and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik said. "But we're in much better shape now than four or five years ago to continue with the same momentum rather than struggle after he leaves."

However, while Fry has earned praise for his business savvy and the financial stability he has helped create, some believe that his successor would be wise to focus on the smaller issues as well as the big ones. According to one source, Penn's next executive vice president should concentrate more on the day-to-day concerns of members of the Penn community.

"We want someone with John's energy, but we probably want someone who's not as focused on the next big thing," a senior Penn administrator said.

Fry becomes the fourth Penn faculty member or administrator in the last five years to leave for a college presidency. Fry's decision comes on the heels of Reed College's decision last Saturday to select former Law School Dean Colin Diver as its new president.

In 1998, Engineering School Dean Gregory Farrington became Lehigh University's president. And one year ago, Lake Forest College tapped Vice President and Chief of Staff Stephen Schutt for its vacant presidency.

Some believe that the recent departures of administrators proves that Penn has emerged as a training ground for leaders in higher education.

"When you look around, you find academic leadership at many other places that you can trace back to Penn," Blaik said. "That is tremendous evidence of Penn's capacity to bring in talent, to breed talent and to export it."

With Fry set to leave at the end of June, the search for his successor will be a high priority for Penn this spring.

University President Judith Rodin said she has yet to decide how she wishes to proceed with the search, nor has she drawn up a timetable for the search.

"Because this is pretty surprising, I have not had any time to really think about what the long-term decision is," Rodin said.

Although Rodin has not yet begun the candidate search, some experts in the field believe she has several options from which to choose.

Rodin could opt to promote someone from within the ranks of the Penn community, or she could tap an outsider to fill the gaping hole. And if she needs help identifying candidates, there are search firms eager to step up to the challenge.

Kim Morrisson, managing director of the executive search firm Diversified Search, said that Rodin can look outside the University for help in finding Fry's successor.

"I think she will be very strategic in making her decision," Morrisson said. "If she's comfortable using search firms, she may choose to do that. If she's not comfortable using them, she may choose to do it some other way."

Joan Blumenthal, principal of non-profit and higher education search firm Blumenthal-Hart, said that a search of this magnitude is usually undertaken with the help of an outside firm. Search firms are advantageous to guide what Blumenthal describes as "a very complex process."

In the typical executive search, the key consultant spends time with the president and other stakeholders to determine the expectations, challenges and issues involved with the position. They also identify the characteristics and qualifications essential to succeeding at the job.

Depending on the availability of candidates, the start date for the search and the schedules of the parties involved, the hunt for a top level administrator can last for a few months or drag out for more than a year.

But Penn has a rather slow track record in replacing its departed leaders. For more than 13 months, the University struggled to fill the vacancy that Stanley Chodorow left as the University's top academic officer, finally appointing Robert Barchi as provost in December 1998.

And recently, the University spent 15 months searching for a Law School Dean to replace Diver after he stepped down in 1998.

"It depends on how difficult it is to find someone and how attractive the position is," Morrisson said. "John's done terrific things for Penn, and there has been a lot of good energy around the work Penn has done lately. I think the position will be very attractive to a great many people."

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