09-26-2023, 03:05 PM
Stanford has gotten so big, with so many wide-ranging ventures, that no single person could possible have a good grasp of what's going on. This is basically true across higher ed, yet universities cling to a management structure (President-Provost) best suited for a different, smaller era.
That said, the president at Stanford and counterparts at virtually all universities are graded by Those Who Matter mostly on fundraising. For some, MTL is simply all that because he was at the top when Stanford bagged the $1.1 billion Doerr grant.
My views may be overly simplistic, but I truly believe this explains a lot about why universities have the type of leaders that they do.
That said, the president at Stanford and counterparts at virtually all universities are graded by Those Who Matter mostly on fundraising. For some, MTL is simply all that because he was at the top when Stanford bagged the $1.1 billion Doerr grant.
My views may be overly simplistic, but I truly believe this explains a lot about why universities have the type of leaders that they do.