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No Magic, Little Sleep, and Lots of Luck: Reflections
from a Long-Serving University President
By Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
The question was put to me recently: What magic enables
someone to hold the office of university president for many years? To
put it even more simply, the questioner wondered how does anyone
manage to do this? It is a good query, but it seems to me that another
interrogatory is implied: Why does one serve for an extensive
term? They are separate matters, but not so far apart as they may seem
at first; moreover, I think the response to one illuminates the
other.
Let me first offer a caveat, or at least a mild caution.
My reaction is personal and might differ from those offered by other
longtime presidents. But in a general way, I think two things make it
possible to serve successfully for many years, and neither of them is
wizardly: certain personal characteristics; and important, unwritten
rules of the craft, some golden, some of baser metal. . . .
Excerpted from the fall 2006 issue of The
Presidency. To subscribe to the magazine, please call (301) 632-6757,
or order online through ACE’s
bookstore.
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