ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan Board of Regents, acting as the Presidential Search Committee, voted unanimously today (Nov. 5) to offer the University presidency to Lee C. Bollinger, provost and professor of government, Dartmouth College.

Several of the Regents commented on Bollinger’s deep love of the University and Regent Laurence Deitch said he believes the U- M presidency is Bollinger’s “dream job.” Regents also identified Bollinger as a candidate who would “hit the ground running”?an ability they said is particularly important for the University at this stage in its history.

The co-chairs of the Presidential Search Committee, Regents Shirley McFee and Nellie Varner, were authorized by the Board to begin negotiations with Bollinger. In the event that an agreement is reached and Bollinger accepts the presidency, the Board of Regents will meet again to officially elect him to the position. A date has not yet been set for that meeting.

In a three-hour public meeting beginning at 9 a.m. today, each of the eight Regents commented on the strengths they saw in each candidate and the criteria they felt were most important in the selection of a president.

All agreed that the four finalists recommended by the advisory committee?including Stanley A. Chodorow of the University of Pennsylvania, Carol T. Christ of the University of California at Berkeley, and Larry R. Faulkner, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign?were outstanding candidates who in the near future would be chosen as president of a top university, if not the U-M. Regent Rebecca McGowan said the advisory committee had produced “the cream of the cream of emerging university leadership” and, noted McFee, “a step up is well within each one’s capabilities and aspirations.”

However, they noted that Bollinger has the support of many U- M constituencies and would be a “consultative” leader whose management style would serve to “heal” the campus and bring a consensus to diverse groups of stakeholders. Bollinger also was praised as a scholar and an intellectual, a good listener, an individual of “great integrity” and one whose understanding of diverse issues ranging from the future of the Medical Center to intercollegiate athletics would serve him well as the leader of the large and complex U-M.

Bollinger, who has been provost of Dartmouth College since 1994, began his academic career as assistant professor of law at the U-M in 1973, progressing to associate professor and then professor. He served as dean of the U-M Law School from 1987-94. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Oregon (1968) and a law degree from Columbia University (1971).

At this morning’s meeting, Regents also spoke about the process each used to arrive at a decision about the candidate they could most support. In addition to reviewing written materials about each candidate and participating in the public interviews, Board members received numerous phone calls, letters and e-mail messages from colleagues across the nation; placed calls to colleagues familiar with each candidate; reviewed carefully the selection criteria they had developed; and pored over hours of videotapes and lengthy transcripts of the candidates’ public interviews.

Search consultant Malcolm MacKay of Russell Reynolds Associates Inc. told Regents that the eight-month search for the next U-M president was “the most thorough, disciplined, extensive search” he had seen.

University of Michigan