By Patricia E. Salkin, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost of the Graduate and Professional Divisions, Touro University
A little studied trend revealed in a new book, shows the exponential increase in the number of lawyers being appointed as college and university presidents. Serving as a provost is often a pathway to the presidency for those interested, yet the data shows that most lawyer presidents did not previously serve as provosts or chief academic officers. Although there is little published research about the backgrounds of provosts, it is fair to state that the typical provost does not possess a JD degree. A 2010 Study of Chief Academic Officers of Independent Colleges and Universities published by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) indicated that among provosts (of chief academic officers) at four-year colleges and universities, at least 90% indicated that they held a terminal degree. The study reported that 86% of chief academic officers at independent institutions had earned a PhD and 10% had earned an EdD. Of the remaining 4%, the survey reported the provosts possessed theology degrees, JDs (less than 1%) and MDs.
Through an examination of the backgrounds of lawyer presidents in May it Please the Campus: Lawyers Leading Higher Education (Touro University Press 2022), data about how many of these individuals had previously served as [law] professors, [law] deans, and provosts is discussed. Data collected for the 2017 American College President Study published by the American Council on Education (ACE) revealed that of the number of lawyer presidents in for the 2017 survey year, roughly 28% had previously served as a chief academic officer or provost/dean/other senior executive in academic affairs. This percentage is lower than what was reported in the 2002 survey which showed 34% had had previous chief academic officer or provost/dean/other academic affairs experience.
The new study shares that from the 1940s to present, of the provosts with JDs, 51 of them have been appointed to 68 presidencies. The 1940s and 1950s saw the appointment of just 1 lawyer provost to the campus C-Suite – Albert C. Jacobs. Jacobs was first appointed as Chancellor at the University of Colorado (Denver) in 1949 where he stayed until 1953 when he was appointed as president of Trinity College. Two more lawyer provosts were appointed as presidents in the 1960s – Kingman Brewster at Yale in 1963 and Edward H. Levi at the University of Chicago in 1968.
Two more were appointed in the 1970s and then the number started to climb with 5 in the 1980s, 9 in the 1990s, 12 in the 2000s and 28 in the 2010s. So far, only two years in to the 2020s, with 8 appointments of lawyer provosts to the presidency, by extrapolation we might expect the number to hit 40 by the end of the decade.
A list of all known provosts with an earned JD who were appointed as a campus president (and/or interim president), along with the name of the school and term of office are listed below. [Note: Chancellors are treated as presidents for purposes of this research and are included on the list as well]
|
NAME |
JOB_ROLE |
SCHOOL |
TERM_OF_OFFICE |
|
Arthur, Virginia |
President |
Metropolitan State University (MN) |
2016-Present |
|
Bollinger, Lee |
President |
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (MI) |
1996-2002 |
|
Bollinger, Lee |
President |
Columbia University (NY) |
2002-2023 |
|
Brewster, Jr Kingman |
President |
Yale University (CT) |
1963-1977 |
|
Brown, Barry |
Interim President |
Suffolk University (MA) |
2010-2012 |
|
Brown, Barry |
President |
Mount Ida College (MA) |
2012-2018 |
|
Burcham, David |
Interim President |
Loyola Marymount University (CA) |
2010-2010 |
|
Burcham, David |
President |
Loyola Marymount University (CA) |
2010-2015 |
|
Casper, Gerhard |
President |
Stanford University (CA) |
1992-2000 |
|
Cohen, David |
President |
Five Towns College (NY) |
2016-Present |
|
Collins, Jennifer M. |
President |
Rhodes College (TN) |
2022-Present |
|
D' Emilio, Deaane Horner |
President |
Gwynedd Mercy University (PA) |
2017-Present |
|
Ehrlich, Thomas |
President |
Indiana University (IN) |
1987-1994 |
|
Eisgruber, Christopher |
President |
Princeton University (NJ) |
2013-Present |
|
Emery, Alfred C. |
President |
University of Utah (UT) |
1971-1973 |
|
Gabel, Joan T.A. |
President |
University of Minnesota (MN) |
2019-Present |
|
Garrett, Elizabeth |
President |
Cornell University (NY) |
2015-2016 |
|
Greiner, William R. |
President |
University of Buffalo (NY) |
1991-2004 |
|
Hall, David |
President |
University Virgin Islands (VI) |
2009-Present |
|
Hillman, Elizabeth |
President |
Mills College (CA) |
2016-Present |
|
Jackson, Thomas H. |
President |
University of Rochester (NY) |
1994-2005 |
|
Jacobs, Albert C. |
Chancellor |
University of Denver (CO) |
1949-1953 |
|
Jacobs, Albert C. |
President |
Trinity College (CT) |
1953-1968 |
|
Jones, Jr., Glendell |
President |
Henderson State University (AR) |
2012-2019 |
|
Levi, Edward H. |
President |
University of Chicago (IL) |
1968-1975 |
|
Levit, Janet |
Interim President |
University of Tulsa (OK) |
2020-2021 |
|
Loh, Wallace |
President |
University of Maryland, College Park (MD) |
2010-2020 |
|
Looney, Susan |
President |
Reading Area Community College (PA) |
2018-Present |
|
Magill, Elizabeth |
President |
University of Pennsylvania (PA) |
2022-Present |
|
McConnell, Joyce |
President |
Colorado State (CO) |
2019-2022 |
|
McDonald, Clay |
President |
Logan University (MO) |
2013-Present |
|
McDonald, J. Clay |
President |
Logan University (MO) |
2003-Present |
|
Mearns, Geoffrey S. |
President |
Northern Kentucky University (KY) |
2012-2017 |
|
Mearns, Geoffrey S. |
President |
Ball State University (IN) |
2017-Present |
|
Mengler, Thomas |
President |
St. Mary’s University (TX) (TX) |
2012-Present |
|
Morehead, Jere W. |
President |
University of Georgia (GA) |
2013-Present |
|
Nordenberg, Mark |
Interim Chancellor |
University of Pittsburgh (PA) |
1995-1995 |
|
Nordenberg, Mark |
Chancellor |
University of Pittsburgh (PA) |
1996-2014 |
|
O'Neil, Robert Marchant |
President |
University of Wisconsin (WI) |
1980-1985 |
|
O'Neil, Robert Marchant |
President |
University of Virginia (VA) |
1985-1990 |
|
Perrin, Larry Timothy |
President |
Lubbock Christian University (TX) |
2012-Present |
|
Posner, Susan |
President |
Hofstra University (NY) |
2021-Present |
|
Pritchett, Wendell |
Interim President |
University of Pennsylvania (PA) |
2022-2022 |
|
Rallo, Joseph |
President |
Angelo State University (TX) |
2007-2015 |
|
Reisberg, Darren |
President |
Hartwick College (NY) |
2022-Present |
|
Ryan, Barry |
President |
Agrosy University, Southern CA campuses (CA) |
2007-2009 |
|
Ryan, Barry |
President and CEO |
West Coast University (CA) |
2009-2014 |
|
Ryan, Barry |
Chancellor |
Agrosy University (CA) |
2014-2015 |
|
Ryan, Barry |
President and CEO |
United States University (CA) |
2015-2016 |
|
Ryan, Barry |
President |
Sofia University (CA) |
2018-2020 |
|
Snyder, Barbara |
President |
Case Western Reserve (OH) |
2007-Present |
|
Sovern, Michael |
President |
Columbia University (NY) |
1980-1993 |
|
Spectar, Jem |
President |
University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown (PA) |
2007-Present |
|
Stanley, Deborah F. |
Interim President |
SUNY Oswego (NY) |
1995-1997 |
|
Stanley, Deborah F. |
President |
SUNY Oswego (NY) |
1997-2021 |
|
Stanley, Deborah F. |
Interim Chancellor |
SUNY System(NY) |
2021-Present |
|
Stargardter, Steven |
President |
John F. Kennedy University (CA) |
2004-Present |
|
Stevens, Robert |
President |
Haverford College (PA) |
1978-1987 |
|
Stevens, Robert |
Chancellor |
University of California (Santa Cruz) (CA) |
1987-1991 |
|
Sullivan, Thomas, E. |
President |
University of Vermont (VT) |
2012-Present |
|
Sulmasy, Glenn M. |
President |
Nichols College (MA) |
2021-Present |
|
Thierstein, Joel |
Interim President |
Mount St. Joseph University (OH) |
2014-2014 |
|
Thierstein, Joel |
President |
West Virginia Wesleyan College (WV) |
2017-Present |
|
Wiserman, Christine |
President |
Saint Xavier University (IL) |
2010-2016 |
|
Yudof, Mark |
President |
University of Minnesota (MN) |
1997-2002 |
|
Yudof, Mark |
Chancellor |
University of Texas System (TX) |
2002-2008 |
|
Yudof, Mark |
President |
University of California (CA) |
2008-2013 |
|
Zeppos, Nicholas |
President |
Vanderbilt University (TN) |
2008-2019 |
For more information about lawyer presidents please visit: https://lawyersleadinghighered.com
If you are aware of a lawyer president with prior provost experience who is not on this list, please share that information with the author at [email protected] .