Harker seems to fit bill for University of Delaware president

The qualities that colleagues praise in Wharton Dean Patrick Harker may be exactly what the University of Delaware wants in its new president.

Harker is a candidate for the presidency of Delaware, and he visited its campus Wednesday to meet with administrators. He is only a finalist for the job, however, and has not yet been offered the position.

The visit is a customary part of the search process, according to outgoing Delaware President David Roselle, not an indication that Harker has an offer.

Still, Harker could be precisely what Delaware is looking for.

Most Delaware community members want a new president who could improve the university's national prominence and create a tangible vision for its future, according to a focus group report published this summer. Focus group participants also wanted an accessible, "business savvy" leader who could recruit diverse faculty and students.

The new president should be "able to manage a large, diverse organization" and should be a "good business person," according to the report.

Harker declined to comment on his potential departure from Penn. Wharton spokesman Michael Baltes also declined to comment on behalf of the school.

But if Delaware's trustees did decide to extend an offer to Harker that he accepts, Wharton professors say the school will lose one of its most valuable assets.

Harker is "one of those deans who combines both academic and administrative credentials," said Marketing professor Johannes Pennings. "He was a superstar in his academic career and very early on was also drawn into an administrative career - such people are very rare."

Pennings added that Harker became a full professor at the age of 32, an honor he called "unprecedented at almost any university."

But University spokeswoman Lori Doyle acknowledged that going to Delaware would be "a logical next step" for Harker.

"It's no surprise to me that other institutions would look to him to fill a leadership position," Doyle said. "We'd hate to lose him, but it sounds like a great opportunity," she added.

But not everyone agrees that accepting the job would be an upward move for Harker.

"Wharton's a pretty dominant institution," Finance professor Marshall Blume said. "I think the dean of the Wharton School is a pretty good position."

According to a University of Delaware Web site detailing the presidential search process, Harker is the only candidate whose visit to campus has been made public. Roselle refused to say how many finalists the university is considering.

The task of the university's search committee, Roselle said, is to "identify . candidates and to invite them to meet with campus constituencies." The committee is chaired by two Delaware trustees and is made up of Delaware faculty, staff, alumni and trustees.

The committee will recommend one or more candidates to Delaware's Board of Trustees, the group that is charged with formally choosing the next president of the university, Roselle said.

Roselle announced last spring that he plans to step down around May of next year.

Roselle's tenure as Delaware's president has been marked by large fundraising efforts - the school's endowment grew from $326 million when he took over to $1.2 billion today - and a 75 percent increase in the school's graduate-student population, according to a Delaware press release.

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