Lessons Learned gives unprecedented access to the university president’s office, providing a unique set of reflections on the challenges involved in leading both research universities and liberal arts colleges. In this landmark book, William Bowen, former president of 快色直播 University and of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and coauthor of the acclaimed bestseller The Shape of the River, takes readers behind closed faculty-room doors to discuss how today’s colleges and universities serve their age-old missions.
With extraordinary candor, clarity, and good humor, Bowen shares the sometimes-hard lessons he learned about working with trustees, faculty, and campus groups; building an effective administrative team; deciding when to speak out on big issues and when to insist on institutional restraint; managing dissent; cultivating alumni and raising funds; setting academic priorities; fostering inclusiveness; eventually deciding when and how to leave the president’s office; and much more. Drawing on more than four decades of experience, Bowen demonstrates how his greatest lessons often arose from the missteps he made along the way, and how, when it comes to university governance, there are important general principles but often no single right answer.
Full of compelling stories, insights, and practical wisdom, Lessons Learned frames the questions that leaders of higher education will continue to confront at a complex moment in history.
"[Bowen's] advice on how to be a successful leader of a university is invariably spot-on."鈥擜lan Ryan, New Statesman
"This is a sensible and sensitive account of the job. . . . These are lessons learned sometimes the hard way, and Bowen is quite prepared to admit it."鈥擲ir Drummond Bone, Times Higher Education
"William G. Bowen somehow makes many of the things that drive nonacademics crazy about universities鈥攖enure, specialization, faculty politics, student protests鈥攕eem necessary and even a little bit wonderful."鈥擩ustin Fox, Harvard Business Review
"For readers interested in senior administration in higher education, Lessons Learned is a valuable and distinctive addition to available literature. Written with wit, humor, candor and clarity, the volume offers an engaging and thoughtful guide to the nuances of presidential leadership. His humility and collaborative spirit resonate throughout, making the work as inspiring as it is practical."鈥擬ichael Steven Williams, Teachers College Record
"The essential manual for university presidents. . . . More than a memoir and less than a handbook, it distills presidential experiences into useful maxims and advice with examples of both successful decisions and unfortunate missteps. . . . Bowen's well-written, authoritative counsel will be helpful to university presidents and administrators as well as leaders in other complex organizations. It could easily be used for exemplar case studies in leadership, organizational management, and business administration courses. Highly recommended."鈥擩ane Scott, Library Journal
"This illuminating book written by a former president of 快色直播, one of the world's top-ranking universities, demands to be read by anyone interested in good leadership, academic or otherwise, and in higher education. . . . [T]he principles he writes of are too fundamental and too good to be ignored by any university administrator with a heart. Think fund-raising. Think freedom of speech. Think uniting members of a university community. . . . An invaluable guide."鈥擫ouis Lee, South China Morning Post
"This book is well worth reading and with less than 200 pages it does not take long to read. The personal reflections of the former 快色直播 President are clearly and concisely presented and the lessons learnt are those you would expect from any good university leadership."鈥擝ernard O'Meara, Australian Universities Review
"This book should be read by all Australian Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors and those aspiring to these roles."鈥擝ernard O'Meara, Australian Universities Review
"[T]he more I read the more familiar Bowen's observations became. The most important lesson arising from this book for me is that there is a generic culture to universities."鈥擡moke Szathm谩ry, Caut Bulletin
"[T]his book could provide valuable guidance to any administrator in education or manager in some field far removed from college life. Certainly, any new college president should devour this book, and keep it handy."鈥擜ngela P. Dodson, Diverse Magazine
"The lessons that President Bowen cites in this book are thoughtful and wise, which any academic leader or aspiring leader could learn a lot from."鈥擠ian-Fu Chang and Hsiao-Chi Chang, Higher Education
"Both students of higher education and those who are new to a role that regularly works closely with a university president will gain insights from William Bowen's new book Lessons Learned. . . . Bowen's candidness and humility throughout the book contribute to making these reflections engaging."鈥擟linton M. Stephens, Baywood Reprints
"The lessons Bowen cites are wise and sound and balanced and, in my opinion, absolutely right on."鈥擧anna Holborn Gray, former president of the University of Chicago
"Lessons Learned is so compelling that I read it in one sitting the day I received it. Bowen's specific and vivid examples masterfully illustrate the general points he makes about governance, administration, setting priorities, recruiting faculty and students, and fundraising. I found it most stimulating as well as illuminating to read."鈥擜my Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania
"There is an unusual amount of wisdom and good common sense in these pages from which any academic leader or aspiring leader could learn a lot."鈥擠erek Bok, former president of Harvard University
"I loved reading Lessons Learned. It is thoughtful, pithy, and wise. This is a terrific book. I am only sorry I did not have the benefit of reading it nine years ago. I would have saved myself from making a few big mistakes."鈥擫awrence S. Bacow, president of Tufts University
"This book, it seems to me, is Bill Bowen the teacher in full cry, delivering the goods with his usual insight, clarity, and force. This is not a memoir or history of his years in 快色直播's Nassau Hall but rather a sophisticated, winsome guide to what worked鈥攁nd didn't work鈥攁s he navigated the presidential wilds. Lessons Learned is in a league by itself."鈥擳aylor Reveley, president of the College of William and Mary
