Eric Braun Appointed as Interim President at Shawnee State University Effective July 1, 2023

Eric Braun, who served as Shawnee States University’s Vice President for Advancement and Enrollment Management has been appointed as interim president effective July 1. 2023. Braun joined Shawnee State University in 2009, serving as Executive Director of Development and then later as Secretary to the Board of Trustees prior to his appointment as VP for Advancement and Enrollment Management in 2016.

Braun, who earned his JD at Wake Forest University, and an Ed.D at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College, was appointed by Governor Kasich to the Ohio Trust Authority, the board that provides oversight for Ohio’s 529 college savings program. He was elected executive chairman of the board from 2015-2018. Prior to joining Shawnee State University, Braun was the managing partner of a statewide North Carolina law firm, Bunch and Braun, PLLC.

Braun joins a growing number of lawyer presidents with prior fundraising experience. As discussed in more detail in May it Please the Campus: Lawyers Leading Higher Education, over the last three decades, the number of lawyer presidents with professional campus-based fundraising experience has increased from three in the 1990s to twelve in the 2000s and to twenty-six in the 2010s. This is not surprising given the pressure on presidents to generate external resources to support the needs and growth of the campus.

Law Dean Garry Jenkins Named 9th President of Bates College and First Black President

Minnesota Law Dean Garry W. Jenkins has been appointed as the 9th President of Bates College effective July 1, 2023. Jenkins will be the College’s first Black president since its founding in 1855.

In announcing the appointment of Bates, Board Chair John Gillespie said, “Garry is a brilliant and accomplished institutional leader who is steeped in the power and promise of the liberal arts. A 1992 graduate of Haverford College, he has served on the Board of Managers of his alma mater since 2009, including serving as vice chair since 2015.”

Bates is credited with leading the University of Minnesota Law School to a successful conclusion of a record-setting $106 million fundraising campaign (exceeding its initial goal of $80M), and nearly doubled the Law School’s endowment. He was described by Joan T.A. Gabel, the former lawyer president of the University of Minnesota as innovative, creative and collaborative.

Before joining the University of Minnesota as Dean, Garry Jenkins was a professor of law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law for 12 years and served as associate dean for academic affairs for 8 of those years. The announcement of his appointment also noted that, “Jenkins co-founded and directed the innovative Program on Law and Leadership at Moritz, considered one of the first such programs at a U.S. law school, to teach law students skills and aspects of leadership, such as group dynamics and how to move issues forward, that had not been part of the traditional law school curriculum.”

Bates earned his JD from Harvard Law School and an MS in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School at the same time. He clerked for the Hon. Timothy K Lewis on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and he worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and he served as COO and General Counsel of the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

In addition to a trend of law deans being appointed to campus presidencies, Bates’s experience as a trustee for his alma mater is another experience shared by a growing number of lawyers appointed to lead campuses. The inside information and birds eye view of higher education that board members acquire as volunteers can be very helpful in preparing them to lead a campus.

1st Woman to Lead Bentley Univ., Gloria Cordes Larson, Former Government Lawyer and Business Leader

In 2007, Bentley University named respected attorney, public policy expert and business leader Gloria Cordes Larson as the 7th President and first woman to be appointed as the campus leader. By the time she stepped down in 2018, she had a long list of impressive accomplishments that grew Bentley from a small regional business college to one that became a highly ranked nationally recognized institution.

Larson earned her J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law. During law school she worked on pro-bono mental health and environmental projects, and after school she ran a statewide legal services program for the elderly. She was then tapped to work for Commissioner Pat Bailey at the Federal Trade Commission – an experience that was transformative in the 1980s since Pat Bailey, a woman, hired other women attorneys. Larson moved to Massachusetts when Governor William Weld asked her to serve as Secretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, and then later as his Secretary of Economic Affairs. Larson departed government to join the firm of Foley Hoag. A friend recommended that she apply to become the President of Bentley as they were looking for a new model for a college president.

Gloria Cordes Larson’s advice to women is, “…find the ability to take risks professionally, so you’re not just treading water. It’s the only way you can move forward while we collectively address all those other challenges to progress.”

Today, Bentley University is home to the Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business, which is dedicated to advancing gender equity from the classroom to the boardroom and providing thought leadership in this space. In naming the Center in her honor, the Chair of the University Board of Trustees noted, “The founding of the Center for Women and Business under Gloria Larson's leadership comes after a long career spent blazing new trails for women in government and business. She understood workplace gender equality issues were not going to be an easy fix--we needed to both focus on preparing students for the world we want to see tomorrow and help businesses enact meaningful changes today.”

In 2021 Larson was invited back to Bentley to deliver the Commencement address to the last class admitted during her tenure. In that speech, she offered five professional and personal life lessons to the graduates (which she went into some detail to explain): pursue opportunities the bring the most meaning to your life; bring a consistently positive attitude to the workplace while adopting a realistic view of mistakes and challenges; mentors, sponsors and networks matter; ask for new opportunities and take bold risks throughout your career; and life beyond the office is critical to personal well-being.

While at Bentley University, Gloria Cordes Larson authored a popular book, PreparedU: How Innovative Colleges Prepare Students for Success. Among other things, the book is a guide to success by how one goes to school, not where one attends.