Legal Background Noted as a Path to the College Presidency

In February 2024, WittKieffer released a report, Talent Insights: The Path to the College Presidency, where they confirmed that while presidents specialize in a wide variety of academic areas, 13% have a legal education (J.D.) background. This statistic reiterates the finding in May it Please the Campus: Lawyers Leading Higher Education. The report also notes that while provosts positions are typical stepping stones to the presidency (38%), 22% of presidents previously served as a dean immediately prior to their presidential appointment. A recent blog post about lawyer provosts also shows this connection, and the data in May it Please the campus shows the number of law school deans who later became presidents (some went right to the presidency while others stopped in the provost office first).

The report contains infographics with lots of interesting data points including:

• The average age of current presidents is 63 years old.

• 68% of presidents are male and 32% are female.

• The average tenure of a president is 8 years.

• 55 years of age is the average for first appointment as a president.

• One quarter of current university presidents at leading institutions previously held the role elsewhere.

Colorado College President to Return to UC Davis Law Faculty

Prominent legal scholar L. Song Richardson left UC Davis three years ago to assume the presidency at Colorado College.  She has resigned from the presidency effective June 2024 citing constraints on her ability to engage in national policy discussions on what have become hot topic or controversial issues.  She wrote that as the national dialogue around “equity and fairness” has intensified, and that she has felt “increasingly torn between my desire to pursue that work as an academic with the freedom to fully engage in these debates, express my personal views, and challenge the status quo” and her responsibilities as president of the college. Richardson, who is Black and Korean, is the first woman of color to hold the presidency at Colorado College. She received her A.B. from Harvard College and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

President Richardson plans to return to the UC Davis law faculty (where she had served as dean prior to joining Colorado College) and she plans to launch a new institute focused on equity, opportunity and leadership.

Long Stading UVI President David Hall to Complete 15-year Run in July 2024

UVI President David Hall, who previously served as the dean of Northeastern School of Law, decided not seek reappointment as he completes his 15th year as President (2009-2024).  In 1993, when he was appointed dean of the Northeastern University School of Law, he made history by being the first African-American to hold the position. He also served as Provost and Senior Vice President of Northeastern University, and was also the first African American to hold that position. 

Dr. Hall holds a bachelor's degree from Kansas State University, a JD from the University of Oklahoma, where he also earned a master's degree in Human Relations, and he holds both an LL.M. degree and a doctorate of juridical science (SJD) from Harvard Law School.