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SPECIAL EDITION -U THE *3TH PRESIDENT
One hundred eleven years of editorialfreedom
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NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 7640557
www~michigandally.com
Thursday
May 30, 2002
- B B t oa
U
I
Regents announce
Co eman as rst
emale resident
By Karen Schwartz
and Maria Sprow
Daily News Editors
Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University
of Iowa, was welcomed to the University by the
University Board of Regents and community mem-
bers yesterday morning as she was elected to be the
University's 13th president in a motion carried
unanimously by the regents.
Coleman, who has been president of Iowa since
1995, will begin her term at the University of
Michigan Aug. 1 under a five-year contract set to be
finalized at the June regents meeting.
"She will be a strong, creative, experienced,
thoughtful and successful president of the Universi-
ty of Michigan," Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-
Ann Arbor) said. "And let it be said again and
again, girls can do math and science."
Regents also praised interim University President
B. Joseph White, expressing gratitude and appreci-
ation for his dedication and involvement in keeping
the University running smoothly.
"The only thing more
challenging than being g e .
president of this Univer- WVe beleve
sity would be beingpr eto e
interim president," provet be
Regent David Brandong
(R-Ann Arbor) said. great
Added Regent Kathy University's
White (D-Ann Arbor) to
White and his wife, - R
Mary: "I'm very
impressed at (your) deep
commitment ... I am
basically speechless," she said.
Though she was officially appointed, Coleman
will remain at Iowa for the next two months.
"I have two responsibilities that I have to do
going forward," she said, referring to both her posi-
tion at Iowa and her need to prepare for her new
role in Ann Arbor.
White will remain in charge of the University
until the beginning of August but said he would
confer with Coleman on any major decisions made
between now and then.
Laurence Deitch (D-Bingham Farms), chair of
the Board of Regents and the Presidential Search
Committe, said he is confident Coleman is ready
for the job.
"She was quite simply the best of the best. We
think the University and the community will benefit
from her leadership, he said. "As an administrator,
she's smart and she's tough and she knows how big
places like this run."
He added that Coleman is well-known in higher
education circles and that her name is on "every-
body's short list of leaders of higher education."
Deitch cited Coleman's achievements and cre-
dentials as part of what made her an appealing can-
didate, commenting on the breadth of her
experiences and involvement in research and a vari-
ety of other areas.
"We believe she will prove to be one of the great
leaders of the University's history," he said. "We
will be fortunate to have her."
Regarding the search process, Deitch called the
r'
"
search "focused, thorough and thoughtful."
Deitch also addressed the contributions of the
Presidential Search Advisory Committee, com-
posed of faculty, students, staff and alumni, which
met 15 times over five months to investigate the
pool of candidates.
It was "a truly extraordinary commitment by 16
people with very busy lives," Deitch said.
The University community at large had a chance
to be part of the process as well, as 25 meetings
were held to give the community a chance to voice
opinions and hopes for the next University leader.
"The election of the next president mattered to
everyone - everyone cared. It reaffirmed our com-
mitment," said Rackham Dean Earl Lewis, chair of
the Presidential Search Advisory Committee.
Lewis said over 200 people were nominated and
reviewed "in one form or another" in a process that
"turned nominations into candidates" He said the
advisory committee presented a pool of candidates,
not finalists, to the regents.
"It was a process that we understood required a
high level of confidentiality," he said. He added that
the job of the search com-
mittee was to create a rich
she will and deep pool full of can-
of the 'didates who were qualified
one to lead the University in
many different ways.
s of the Coleman said that if it
history. " had been an open search
she would not have con-
egent Laurence Deitch sidered candidacy. She is
D-Bingham Farms not the only one who
would have refused candi-
dacy, Lewis said.
While Lewis said the openness in Harvard's
recent presidential search did not seem to harm for-
mer University President Lee Bollinger - who
Coleman is replacing - Bollinger was announced
last year to be a finalist and then lost to former U.S.
Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers, he
believes Bollinger is the exception to the rule.
"Everyone involved are people who are them-
selves in a position of responsibility," Lewis said.
"In many other instances, individuals will find
themselves compramised if they are publicly identi-
fied as a candidate in a public search."
When asked about a list of finalists, Deitch
would not offer a list but said "there is one finalist
and she is with us (now)."
Making a list of candidates public, even after the
announcement, would violate a promise to those
who chose to accept their nominations, Lewis said.
Though she said she never intended to leave
Iowa and was not looking for another job when
University committee members asked her to con-
sider the position, Coleman said she is happy to be
part of the University community and looks for-
ward to "the experience of a lifetime."
"I just wanted you to know what a thrill this is,"
she said, adding that part of the thrill of being elect-
ed University president comes from her passion for
public university education.
"I have to tell you, when I called my mother, my
88-year-old mother - she lives in Colorado -
she cried and she understood what it meant to be
See PRESIDENT, Page 4
ULBBIL MILL/Uaily
ABOVE: Mary Sue Coleman, who will
begin her term as the 13th president of
the University Aug. 1, accepts her new
position while addressing members of
the University community yesterday
inside the Kuenzel Room of the
Michigan Union.
LEFT: Coleman listens as Presidential
Search Advisory Committee chair and
Rackham Dean Earl Lewis tells
members of the media why he believes
the best candidate possible was given
the permanent leadership position at
the University during a press
conference yesterday morning. Lewis,
Coleman and Laurence Deitch,
University Board of Regents and
Presidential Search Committee chair,
addressed audience members'
questions during the conference.
inside
University of Iowa community
members react to Coleman's
departure. Page3.
University tudents react to the
regent's decision. Page 3.
Coleman, one of few female lead-
ers in the Big Ten, is more con-
cerned about job than gender. Page 5.
Also in this edition
Banned Michigan basketball
booster Ed Martin
pleaded guilty Tues-
I. r - I I t.: 1 ~Id
White thanked for dedication,
commitment during transition
By Karen Schwartz
and Maria Sprow
Daily News Editors
The University Board of Regents gave their heartfelt thanks
to interim President B. Joseph White yesterday morning for
his commitment and contributions in leading the University.
"Joe did an excellent job keeping the University together
while keening it movinr forward" said Iniversitv Board of
sentiments. "To you and Mary, we'll always be indebted for
your work,"he said.
But the praise for White's work and dedication didn't stop
with the regents. Many other members of the University com-
munity, including Rackham Dean Earl Lewis, chair of the
Presidential Search Advisory Committee, said they felt White
had succeeded in what he had set out to do.
"I think that Joe did a marvelous job in his interim
role. It's hard to be interim. (but) he kent the shin head-
White, who began his
current position serving the
University community Jan. 1,
will turn leadership of the
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