A new leader for a new University era
By Rodger Nayak | January 25, 2010The search for president-elect Teresa A. Sullivan - who will succeed John T. Casteen, III and become the eighth president in University history - began with questions not only from students, faculty and staff, but also from senior administrators at private and public universities nationwide. A surprising transition President and CEO Jan Greenwood, whose consulting firm Greenwood/Asher and Associates, Inc. has conducted more than 1,000 searches for leaders in business and academia, said though she was not involved in the search, she fielded multiple calls from potentially interested candidates who asked about the commonwealth's financial health, the effects of its gubernatorial change and, most frequently, why Casteen planned to step down in August. "There were a lot of questions in the market about the reasons for President Casteen's departure," Greenwood said, noting that it was unusual for a leader like Casteen to leave during a massive fundraising campaign, which has raised just more than $2 billion since its conception in 2006. Casteen, however, will remain active in the present capital campaign after Sullivan takes the reins.
