Presidencies Derailed: Why University Leaders Fail and How to Prevent It - Paperback

by Stephen Joel Trachtenberg (Author), Gerald B. Kauvar (Author), E. Grady Bogue (Author)

How do some university presidents "lose their way," and why are their consequential dismissals given so much media attention?

Presidencies Derailed is the first book to explore in depth why university presidencies fail and how university and college leadership can forestall, if not prevent, future leadership failures. Former university president Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, along with professor Gerald B. Kauvar and former chancellor E. Grady Bogue, organize, classify, and explain patterns of leadership failures, drawing on firsthand testimonies from "derailed" university presidents, sixteen case studies in four sectors of higher education, and reviews of the scholarly literature on leadership failures in the public and private sectors.

Front Jacket

Presidencies Derailed is the first book to explore in depth why university presidencies fail and how university and college leadership can forestall, if not prevent, future leadership failures. Former university president Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, along with professor Gerald B. Kauvar and former chancellor E. Grady Bogue organize, classify, and explain patterns of leadership failures, drawing on firsthand testimonies from derailed university presidents, sixteen case studies in four sectors of higher education, and reviews of the scholarly literature on leadership failures in the public and private sectors.

A book with relevance far beyond academe.--Harvard Business Review

This book should be read by presidential search committees and purchased by vice presidents worried about their president's success.--New England Journal of Higher Education

Every derailed presidency has its own story. The risk of failure is high.--Washington Post

A good resource for those serving on search committees, aspiring presidents, and others interested in leadership transitions."--Review of Higher Education

Without qualification, this book is and will remain the classic on why university presidents succeed or fail.--Warren G. Bennis, University of Southern California

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg was a long-serving president of George Washington University and the former president of the University of Hartford. He is the author of Big Man on Campus: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Education, Reflections on Higher Education, and Speaking His Mind: Five Years of Commentary on Higher Education. Gerald B. Kauvar is a research professor of public policy and public administration and the special assistant to the president emeritus at George Washington University. E. Grady Bogue (1935-2013) was the chancellor of Louisiana State University in Shreveport and the coauthor of Quality and Accountability in Higher Education: Improving Policy, Enhancing Performance.

--Jose A. Cabranes, U.S. Circuit Judge (New York) and trustee of Columbia University, former trustee of Yale University and Colgate University "Canadian Journal of Higher Education"

Back Jacket

"We all err," write Trachtenberg, Kauvar, and Bogue. "As academics, we must also believe that we can all learn how to reduce the chance for error. But human beings are endlessly imaginative and will no doubt continue to find new, innovative ways to mess up and also to do well and good."

In this mordant account of why university presidents fail, these authors show us why leadership in higher education is fraught with peril. Relying on first-hand testimonies from "derailed" university presidents, sixteen case studies in four sectors of higher education, and reviews of the scholarly literature on leadership failures in the public and private sectors, this book shows how good presidencies go bad. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, Gerald B. Kauvar, and E. Grady Bogue organize, classify, and explain patterns of leadership failures and offer key advice on how institutions, their boards, and their leaders can avoid these acrimonious battles.

Presidencies Derailed provides a menu of best practices designed to forestall, if not prevent, future leadership failures. With incisive commentary drawn on years of insider experience, this book offers clear examples of derailments and precise advice on how to prevent these institutional disasters at research universities, liberal arts colleges, master's level institutions, and even community colleges.

Author Biography

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg was a long-serving president of George Washington University and the former president of the University of Hartford. He is the author of Big Man on Campus: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Education, Reflections on Higher Education, and Speaking His Mind: Five Years of Commentary on Higher Education. Gerald B. Kauvar is a research professor of public policy and public administration and the special assistant to the president emeritus at George Washington University. E. Grady Bogue (1935-2013) was the chancellor of Louisiana State University in Shreveport and the coauthor of Quality and Accountability in Higher Education: Improving Policy, Enhancing Performance