The resignation of Temple University’s president, Neil D. Theobald, last month is a story that is becoming all too common in higher education: A new leader takes over with much fanfare, only to be ousted within a few years (in Theobald’s case, just three years).
At a time when higher education is under tremendous pressure to reinvent its financial model and remake its curriculum for a digital age and a diverse student body, who will — and perhaps more important, who can — run colleges and universities for this new era is a question increasingly being asked by trustees, faculty members, and policy makers.
