Harker accepts U. Del. presidency bid

Wharton Dean Patrick Harker has been named the University of Delaware's next president, Delaware officials announced Friday.

Harker, who has been dean since 2000, will begin his job as Delaware's 26th president on July 1 of next year.

"Patrick has been an outstanding leader for Wharton, and as we congratulate him . and wish him well, we also know his departure will be a great loss for Penn," University President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels said in a statement released Friday.

Reached yesterday, Harker, who began his career at Penn as a student almost 30 years ago, said, "Leaving Penn is a bittersweet moment for me. . Penn's a very special place for me, and it took a very special place to lure me away."

He said that he was originally approached by Delaware this past summer and that he had not been actively seeking to leave Penn.

"[I've] grown to love . building the infrastructure - the people and the faculty that can deliver world-class programs," he said, adding that becoming a university president will permit him to do so on a larger scale, "not just in the business school context but in the whole university."

Harker will succeed David Roselle, who has been Delaware's president since 1990.

"We believe Dr. Harker is the best person to carry forward and expand on this legacy of achievement," Delaware's Board of Trustees Chairman Howard Cosgrove said at a press conference Friday. "He is a man of vision, enthusiasm and commitment."

Harker, 48, is young for a university president - the average age is 58, according to Raymond Cotton, a lawyer for the Washington-based Mintz law firm, who specializes in presidential contracts.

Roland King, a spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, added that administrators generally move from public universities to private ones.

Working at a public school like Delaware "produces a whole new level of control . accountability and reporting to the government that you have to a much lesser degree at a private institution," he said.

But for Harker, who spent time in Washington as a White House fellow, the differences are not a major concern.

"Being in the government and understanding government is not new to me," he said.

He added that the University of Delaware is privately chartered, so it is not an entirely public institution - though it still receives state funding.

Harker earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering, as well as his master's degree in economics, from Penn. He earned a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Penn in 1983 and began serving on the Wharton faculty in 1984.

Gutmann and Daniels called Harker, who led Wharton's greatest fundraising campaign of more than $450 million, "a gifted and indefatigable fundraiser."

Harker said that moving from dean to president will be challenging but that he will be working with excellent colleagues who will make the transition a smooth one.

"The best thing you can do as a leader is to hire good people around you who will help you develop your vision for the institution and more importantly help you execute it and fulfill it," Harker said. "They have that great group of people."

In the meantime, University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said that Gutmann will appoint a committee to begin searching for a new dean.

"We would hope to have a dean in place as soon as possible," she said.

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