Portraits in Leadership: Six Extraordinary University Presidents (review)

Arthur Padilla, Professor of Management at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, and a former senior administrator there and at the University of North Carolina's system-wide office, is the author of this intriguing book on academic leadership. Drawing on his nearly 20 years of administrative experience and on current research, Padilla examines the accomplishments of six American university presidents, whose lively biographies he presents as case studies of extraordinary leadership. His purpose is to analyze leadership using the university as "the organizational lens through which to view and understand it."

Padilla's book, which is explicitly modeled on John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, is organized straightforwardly: a chapter on the university, a chapter on leadership, an introduction to the case studies, one chapter about each of the six presidents studied, and a conclusion. The first chapter, a succinct and pithy discussion of the university as a complex organization, is somewhat reminiscent of Clark Kerr's writings on the subject, which Padilla quotes often.

The author's masterful synopsis, which focuses on the impact of the university's peculiar structure on its leaders' required qualities, is an elegant and self-contained piece, as is the chapter on leadership, which focuses on four issues identified in the extensive bibliography of the field: (a) the evolutionary roots of authority, resulting in specific leadership dynamics, (b) early childhood experiences, (c) formal education and informal mentoring, and (d) adult characteristics of leaders, including what Padilla calls the cadence of life or the ability to take time away from day-to-day administration to reflect on important issues.

In the introduction to the case studies, which are highly polished and entertaining independent narratives, Padilla explains his methodology, a qualitative approach that includes document analysis and interviews, not only with the six presidents in question, but also with many of their associates and colleagues. His choice of presidents was based on a number of factors, including a desire to look at various types of institutions, diversity of race and gender, and availability of sources. The result is an interesting assortment of academic leaders, including Clark Kerr, University of California ("The Berkeley Quaker"), William C. Friday, North Carolina State University ("The Catcher from Dallas, North Carolina"), Theodore M. Hesburgh, University of Notre Dame ("God, Country, Notre Dame, and Father Ted"), John B. Slaughter, University of Maryland ("Lenny, Lefty, and Chancellor Slaughter"), William G. Bowen, Princeton University ("Bowen's Beautiful Mind") and Anna Holborn Gray, University of Chicago ("Anna Holborn Gray: The Second Woman").

Each president is characterized in a way that emphasizes his or her individuality and uniqueness, including relevant personal shortcomings, as revealed by various sources. For example, according to some reports, Kerr was aloof, Bowen excessively detail-oriented, Hesburgh autocratic, and Friday manipulative. Padilla, who obviously admires Friday very much, seeks to refute the latter charge. In addition, he comments on the impact of race and gender on perceptions of Slaughter and Gray. Slaughter, who faced a major athletic crisis, was seen as too soft, while Gray, who had high performance standards for her associates, was viewed as being too harsh. Although Padilla doesn't say so explicitly, these perceptions seem to be manifestations of the well-known phenomenon of the double image of the "other," who tends to be seen as either too weak (below the norm) or too strong (above the norm).

In addition to reviewing the personal characteristics of each leader, Padilla compares them to one another in ways that highlight their commonalities. These shared qualities include, among others, resilience in childhood, extraordinary attention to education in the home, exposure to different cultures before adulthood, connectedness to their (leaders') respective organizations, and early access to top leadership. One of the book's main conclusions is that it is important for universities to develop internal talent by identifying and mentoring people who show leadership promise, as they might become the best presidents of the future.

Indeed, four of...