Columbia, NYU presidents resign

As the University's presidential search continues to narrow its pool of candidates, the market for college presidents tightened again as two additional chief administrators resigned this past weekend.

Columbia University President George Rupp '64 and New York University President L. Jay Oliva announced unrelated decisions to leave their posts within the next two years.

These two new vacancies — coupled with the nearly completed search at Harvard University, the search in progress at Princeton and the recently completed search at Brown University — is expected to place strain on the highly competitive market for experienced administrators.

Though the number of universities seeking to fill their top posts is steadily rising, University officials do not expect the tight market to affect Princeton's search process.

"I don't think that it affects us," said Paul Wythes '55, vice chair of the University's Presidential Search Committee. "I don't know where Harvard is [in their search] — we don't look over our shoulders at them. These searches will be starting a lot later and these two new ones will not affect us."

Though Rupp's resignation will not take effect until the summer of 2002, he announced his departure to allow for a thorough search and smooth transition. Outlining his reasons for resigning, Rupp said he would like to return to teaching — echoing President Shapiro's reasons for resigning.

"As for my own future, I have no definite plans," Rupp said during the Columbia Board of Trustees' meeting Saturday, according to a press release. "After what will have been 25 years as either dean or president, I would certainly welcome the opportunity to return to the teaching and writing I intended to pursue when I first became a faculty member."

"But at this point, I will not rule out other options that might develop in the course of the coming year," he continued. "[E]xcept to note that I will not become president of another university."

Though the searches at Columbia and NYU have not yet begun, Princeton's search is moving ahead on schedule, according to Wythes.

"We're narrowing down the number of names," Wythes said. "Everything will still be confidential — that's important to us. It doesn't do any good to have these names out there on the street."

Wythes said the process is now entering one of the final stages as trustees will interview the handful of candidates still under consideration.

"We will be meeting with the candidates in person," Wythes said. "We want to sit down and talk with them. There are just some things you can't learn from phone interviews."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The exact schedule of events for the search process, however, remains unannounced as the committee works toward a selection in April or May.

"We're still hard at work," Wythes said. "We're shooting for late spring, but President Shapiro has said he would stay on longer if needed."

Even if Shapiro is asked to stay on an additional semester, the search process will go on. "We have some flexibility," Wythes said. "We'll continue to work at a pace in line with Princeton's best interests."