Eisgruber to begin search for Burstein’s successor

Just after his appointment as the 20th president of the University, Christopher Eisgruber ’83 will lead the search for another key administrator, Executive Vice President Mark Burstein’s successor.

Burstein announced in December that he would leave Princeton to become the president at Lawrence University, a liberal arts college located in Appleton, Wis.

Eisgruber explained that, as is the case whenever a high-level administrator position becomes available, the University would form a committee and contract an external firm to facilitate the search.

“Right now, we are in the process of starting to put together the information we will need for a job description,” he said. “We’re talking to a search firm in preparation for retaining them, and I’m beginning to put a committee together.”

He added that while he hoped to have the committee together within the next two or three weeks, the announcement of Burstein’s successor would not be made until the fall. In the meantime, an acting EVP will be put into place, although that administrator has not yet been selected.

Burstein joined the University in August of 2004, when he was appointed vice president for administration, and previously served as the vice president for facilities management at Columbia University. At Columbia, he oversaw $1 billion worth of construction and also held the position of vice president for student services between 1995 and 1999.

Before his time in academic administration, Burstein held a diverse range of positions, including stints at the consulting firm Bear Stearns & Company and the New York City Department of Sanitation. He attended Vassar College and received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

A diverse background will likely be a requirement for Burstein’s replacement, since, according to Eisgruber, the executive vice president presides over a broad cross-section of University affairs.

“The EVP position is a tough job and an important job. You need a lot of different kinds of skills ... and you want somebody who has an appetite and enthusiasm for learning the diverse parts of the job,” Eisgruber said. “In some ways, the range of problems that come to the EVP are so broad that you’re unlikely to find — although you might — someone who has experience with all of those jobs, but that should also be part of the attraction.”

Burstein himself has worked on a variety of projects during his time at the University. In 2006, he spearheaded an initiative that saw the University offer financial assistance to upperclassmen with the intention of mitigating the cost of joining eating clubs.

Before announcing his acceptance of the presidency at Lawrence, Burstein was reported to be a leading candidate for the presidency of Dickinson College, a liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pa. He spoke at Dickinson in October before announcing that he had withdrawn from Dickinson’s search in November. Williams College biology professor Nancy Roseman was later named president of Dickinson.

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

A month later, Lawrence announced Burnstein would become its 16th president.

Burstein currently sits on the boards of Vassar and the Victory Fund, a Washington-based organization that supports politicians who identify as gay and lesbian. Burstein himself is openly gay, and his hiring was recognized by President Shirley Tilghman as an important step undertaken by the University over the past decade to promote LGBT equality on campus.