[teejers1]

Hoover Director is a clear step down from Provost

Not from the point of view of an academic. The fact this is a sports board skews peoples evaluation IMHO. Provost is an administrative job. So is AD. They have no academic prestige at all. How would you classify being Dean of the School of Engineering? I can guarantee you that from an academic point of view that is a lot more highly ranked position than AD.

and an enormous step down from Secretary of State.  Also, everything Condi does at Stanford means leaving a ton of money on the table.  Her financial opportunity costs are very high.

True, IMHO.

To the extent that she cares about status, Stanford AD has plenty.

Nope. It is a flunkies job. It is like being the facilities director, only worse. Has no academic status whatsoever. Its occupant also has to live with continual public second guessing of everything that goes wrong from people like us. Not a real attraction for somebody with an academic focus.

The question is how much interest & motivation she'd have, and also how much autonomy she'd have in the role.

My guess: strong interest/motivation + not enough autonomy = no go from her perspective.

In contrast, I'd say that Hoover Director has, for Condi, extremely strong interest/motivation + about the most autonomy & prestige one can have as someone who wants to build or run a conservative center or institute in an elite university setting.

Yes, it is about as good as it gets from that point of view. That's why she is there.

This is perfect!  Great weight on "academic prestige" . . . that only academics care about.

In the real world, Athletic Director at Stanford University carries a cache that transcends academics . . . and politics, for that matter.  You head the department that combines the elites of academic and athletic prowess.  At the #1 university in the world (arguably).  I'm telling you, that carries so much more prestige (and envy) than you think it does.   

But hey, we can just add this to the list of things we disagree on.

[teejers1]

Hoover Director is a clear step down from Provost

Not from the point of view of an academic. The fact this is a sports board skews peoples evaluation IMHO. Provost is an administrative job. So is AD. They have no academic prestige at all. How would you classify being Dean of the School of Engineering? I can guarantee you that from an academic point of view that is a lot more highly ranked position than AD.

and an enormous step down from Secretary of State.  Also, everything Condi does at Stanford means leaving a ton of money on the table.  Her financial opportunity costs are very high.

True, IMHO.

To the extent that she cares about status, Stanford AD has plenty.

Nope. It is a flunkies job. It is like being the facilities director, only worse. Has no academic status whatsoever. Its occupant also has to live with continual public second guessing of everything that goes wrong from people like us. Not a real attraction for somebody with an academic focus.

The question is how much interest & motivation she'd have, and also how much autonomy she'd have in the role.

My guess: strong interest/motivation + not enough autonomy = no go from her perspective.

In contrast, I'd say that Hoover Director has, for Condi, extremely strong interest/motivation + about the most autonomy & prestige one can have as someone who wants to build or run a conservative center or institute in an elite university setting.

Yes, it is about as good as it gets from that point of view. That's why she is there.

This is perfect!  Great weight on "academic prestige" . . . that only academics care about.

In the real world, Athletic Director at Stanford University carries a cache that transcends academics . . . and politics, for that matter.  You head the department that combines the elites of academic and athletic prowess.  At the #1 university in the world (arguably).  I'm telling you, that carries so much more prestige (and envy) than you think it does.   

But hey, we can just add this to the list of things we disagree on.