One of the UI’s longest serving former presidents agreed Oct. 3 to lead the university on an interim basis until a successor is found for President B. Joseph White, who resigned Sept. 23.
Stanley O. Ikenberry, right, and President B. Joseph White listen to a presentation during a special UI Board of Trustees meeting Oct. 3 at the Illini Union. | Photo by L. Brian Stauffer
Stanley O. Ikenberry, president from 1979 to 1995, was appointed interim president at a special meeting of the UI Board of Trustees at the Urbana campus.
Ikenberry will become interim president Jan. 1, serving until White’s successor takes office. Trustees said they plan to have a new president selected by May 2010.
Until White’s resignation becomes effective Dec. 31, Ikenberry will serve as interim president designate, assisting White as needed.
When asked why he wanted the job again, Ikenberry replied: “I had a love affair with the UI that started 30 years ago and hasn’t abated since that time. I said all along that if I could help, if the university needed my help, that I would be happy and actually honored to help.
“I think this is an important time,” Ikenberry added.
“This is going to be a very brief, but I think a very important, transition period. We’ll have challenges, but that’s true for any university across the country.”
Board chair Christopher Kennedy said trustees considered 30 to 40 candidates for the interim post, including former UI presidents, senior staff members and recently retired presidents of like-sized institutions.
“Stan Ikenberry stood head and shoulders above the rest,” Kennedy said.
The trustees unanimously accepted White’s resignation.
Trustee James Montgomery said he did so ”with a lot of regret,” because White “has had an outstanding tenure as president.”
Montgomery credited White for his willingness to place the needs of the university above his own by taking a “substantial financial sacrifice.”
In resigning, White agreed to forgo a retention bonus of $475,000 that would have been payable to him in January.
White’s resignation came about seven weeks after the Admissions Review Commission appointed by Gov. Pat Quinn recommended the university conduct performance reviews of key administrators for their role in preferential admissions practices at the Urbana campus.
The Urbana-Champaign Senate passed a resolution Sept. 14 recommending the trustees begin an orderly transition to new leadership for the university and the campus.
“Our admissions policies can always be improved, but that’s not where the problem was,” Ikenberry said.
“The problem was interference with the job (the admissions) people are assigned to do. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue going forward.”
Kennedy said “thousands” of people had expressed support for White.
“We appreciate his leadership and his spirit will live on at the UI,” the board chair said.
After Ikenberry’s appointment was unanimously approved, trustee Edward McMillan called it a “tremendous solution for the university.”
“I think the university is fortunate and blessed to have someone of Stan Ikenberry’s stature willing to step in at this time,” McMillan said.
During Ikenberry’s 16-year term as president, the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology was founded, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications was created, and the Medical Center and Circle campuses were consolidated to create UIC.
After leaving the university, Ikenberry was the president and chief executive officer of the American Council on Education from 1996 to 2001, and he played an instrumental role in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
In 2001 Ikenberry returned to the UI, where he holds appointments as president emeritus, Regent professor of educational organization and leadership in the College of Education at Urbana and senior fellow in the Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ikenberry holds 16 honorary degrees in addition to a bachelor’s degree from Shepherd College (1956) and a master of arts degree (1957) and doctorate in higher education (1960) from Michigan State University.
Under the revised employment agreement approved by trustees, White will join the faculty at Urbana as a professor of business administration Jan. 1 at a salary of $300,000.
White will continue to assist with key initiatives such as the $2.25 billion Brilliant Futures capital campaign that ends Dec. 31, 2011.
Under the agreement, White will have no teaching responsibilities the first year; he will teach two courses a year beginning Jan. 1, 2011, and three courses a year effective Jan. 1, 2015.
A 19-member search committee will assist in recruiting and selecting the next president. After hearing presentations from three executive search firms, the trustees awarded a contract to the Boston-based firm of Isaacson-Miller to assist with the search.
