When a candidate for a system-leader spot is coming from outside higher education, it can help to have an in. Deep ties to the state in question seem especially helpful. “It’s rare that we would parachute someone in from another state who doesn’t have an appreciation for the territory,” Thornburgh says. WittKieffer helped with the search for Jay O. Rothman, the incoming president of the University of Wisconsin system, a Harvard-educated lawyer “who had never been on campus, never been in the roles of faculty,” he adds, “but he had a keen commitment to education and also knew Wisconsin intimately.”
Office of Strategic Communication