Hirshman Named SDSU President Login to comment

Wednesday, May 11 2011 12:55:32 PM

The white smoke drifted out of Long Beach this morning; we have our new president! The frenetic and frantic and thoroughly comprehensive interview gauntlet of last week has yielded a decision today from Chancellor Charles Reed and the Cal State University Board of Trustees. The 8th president of San Diego State University is Dr. Elliot Hirshman.

Beyond the accompanying bio which speaks to his remarkable qualifications, academic achievement, and administrative preparedness, what can I tell you? Well, I had the fairly intense interaction of a group meeting where he demonstrated a keen interest in and understanding of the importance of our alumni. I had a quick briefing with him regarding his introduction at a reception where he demonstrated genuine humility. I listened to him be grilled for an hour at the open forum where I thought he did a great job listening to the concerns of the faculty and students and community. He deftly answered all of the questions.

When he elected not to directly address some of the hotter current topics, he did it in a way which made the questioner and the audience feel good about his response. For example, he did say a couple of times something along the lines of: "I can certainly understand your point, but I don't believe that 48 hours on campus is enough time to properly hear and understand the complexity of this issue." I then got to introduce him at the reception where he was most gracious. Finally, I drove him and his wife, Jeri, back to their hotel. During that trip, I heard she had had a fantastic day and was absolutely impressed with our university, our people, and our community.

The Hirshmans arrived on campus two Saturdays ago and they elected to spend the evening attending SDSU's "Little Women," a campus play. When Elliot was asked about his hobbies and interests, he answered that his entire professional life he had been completely immersed on campuses and the many activities and entertainments they offered. I finally learned that the Hirshmans were taking a red-eye home that very night because they had to be at work the next morning.

Elliot Hirshman is only 50. Let’s hope he follows in the tradition of long-tenured San Diego State presidents.

Jeri and Elliot Hirshman at the SDSU Prospective Student Center during their recent campus visit.

Choosing a President Login to comment

Wednesday, May 04 2011 04:55:38 PM

About a year ago, SDSU President Steven L.  Weber reiterated his intent to retire.  That prompted the campus to collectively gasp and fret and get busy remembering what the process was for hiring a new president.  Most campus folk were aware that it was not within our purview but rather that of Chancellor Reed and the Cal State University System.  Key community members, and Campanile Foundation and Alumni Board members, however, had to be reminded that The System governed San Diego State, thus The System would hire Steve's successor.

And no one could blame anyone for their fuzzy grasp of how it works.  After all, President Weber has been here for 15 years.  Dr. Tom Day, his predecessor had been her for 18.  Golding, Love, Hardy, Hepner, Black--along with Tom and Steve add up to only 7 presidents of SDSU in 114 years!  Given the modern proclivity for university presidents to last only about 5 years before moving on, one could say we have enjoyed a remarkable run.

Then, in the beginning of February, Dr. Charles Reed, along with Trustees William Hauck, Lou Monville, Linda Lang and Peter Mehas, came to campus.  They spent an entire day talking and listening. They answered questions, and patiently described the process. By day's end they had mitigated the concerns of both the community leaders and the campus community about how it all would unfold.  It turns out, that because the CSU has 23 campuses, and because of that average tenure statistic, and because Charley Reed has been at this quite awhile himself, that they have done this kind of thing before.

So this week we are enjoying the campus visits of the three finalists for SDSU president (For a list of the three candidates and their bios, please click here.) The process has been enormously enlightening. These gentlemen are all tremendously qualified academics and administrators who bring great perspectives on higher education. They are polished professionals who can handle both challenging questions from students and faculty and who also demonstrate superb interpersonal skills.  Most important is that along with their amazing resumes, they are demonstrating a genuine desire, resolve and proven ability to elevate the quality of higher education.

And the two-day gauntlet through which they are running here on campus is also pretty impressive.  The theory goes that if they can hold up to two dozen non-stop appointments with faculty, vice presidents, deans, students, community leaders, staff and media, then they will be far more likely to withstand the day-to-day rigor required of a modern, large-university president.

Next week, Chancellor Reed and the selection committee, armed with all of the feedback from the campus visits, will interview the three finalists and presumably select our next president.  I am certain he will be a good one.