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Summarized by Kent Larsen
LDS President of Brown University Resigns to Join Vanderbilt as Chancellor
Boston Globe 8Feb00 P2
By Kate Zernike, Globe Staff, 2/8/2000
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND -- Brown University President E. Gordon Gee,
a conservative member of the LDS Church, resigned yesterday morning,
saying he has accepted a position as chancellor of Vanderbilt
University in Nashville, Tennessee. Gee has been president of Brown
for two years, during which he has raised some controversy because of
his more businesslike approach and more conservative outlook.
Gee was seen as a 'breath-of-fresh-air' candidate when he succeeded
Vartan Gregorian, who led Brown for a decade. Gee's approach included
announcing reviews of all programs in an effort to eliminate those
not competitive with other top universities. He announced a $47
million initiative on brain science, but angered faculty because he
hadn't reviewed the proposal with key faculty committees. Then three
administrators left within weeks of each other last year, alarming
many on campus.
But Gee's record at Brown has not been without success. Gee raised
$109 million during his first full year at Brown, double what had
been raised the previous year. He tried to get in touch with Brown's
student body, inviting students to dinner. He also chaired a
committee to choose the new superintendent of Providence Public
Schools, in an effort to make the presidency a more public
institution.
Reactions on campus were varied. Executive Vice President for
University Relations Laura Freid said, ''He was working on the fit
issue, and everybody was working with him. In the end, he felt he was
going to be more comfortable somewhere else."
Gee's decision to resign was completely unexpected at Brown and among
observers of higher education. Serving as President of a University
for just two years is "unheard of" according to Judith McLaughlin of
the Harvard Graduate School of Education. ''I would guess that was
the case here,'' she said. ''I like Gordon enormously, he's a very
capable guy, but for him, Brown represented a foreign culture, and
for Brown he represented a stranger. That kind of learning about each
other that happens in the first two years was taking place, it was a
bit messier than one would have hoped it might be. Given the chance
to go somewhere that was a better fit, I'm not surprised he would.''
Less than a month ago, Gee was profiled on the cover of the Chronicle
of Higher Education, the respected weekly newsmagazine covering
higher education (see Mormon News' summary at:
http://www.mormonstoday.com/000116/P2Gee01.shtml )
Gee, who was first named president of a college at age 37, has served
as president of the University of Colorado and West Virginia
University and Ohio State University, from which he resigned to join
Brown. Gee is originally from Utah and has an undergraduate degree
from the University of Utah and a law degree from Columbia. He is the
former dean of BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
Gee told reporters yesterday that the decision to leave Providence
was difficult, but that Vanderbilt is "a special place." He plans to
leave in April and join Vanderbilt in August. A Vanderbilt press
release naming Gee as the new Chancellor calls Gee "the ideal leader
for Vanderbilt."
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