Executive Employment Perspectives Blog

Congratulations and best wishes to our client, Dr. Brenda Kelly, on her appointment as President of the College of St. Scholastica in Minnesota.

https://www.css.edu/about/st-scholastica-news/news/14th-presidential-announcement/

We were privileged to represent Dr. Kelly in her Presidential contract negotiations.

Congratulations and best wishes to our client, Dr. Lisa L. Thompson, on her appointment as President of Union Theological Seminary.

https://utsnyc.edu/rev-dr-lisa-l-thompson-named-17th-president-of-union-theological-seminary/

We were privileged to represent Dr. Thompson in her Presidential contract negotiations.

It will not surprise you to learn that many, if not most, people who make a career at the top administrative levels of higher and secondary education—College and University Presidents and Heads of Independent Schools—are genuinely idealistic about their work. They care... Read More

With all the controversy over Federal funding and other requirements, it is no surprise that 2025 was an extraordinarily hard year for administrators in higher education. The turnover has been significant: Inside Higher Education reports that at least 8 of the Big... Read More

First, a bit of unfinished business: at the end of my last blog, I offered what I thought was an apt quotation, and identified the author as Dr. Samuel Johnson. The source of the quote was correct, but as two of my... Read More

The problem we confronted at the end of my last column was: how to protect a College or University President who feels that he or she has to resign because of an irreconcilable conflict with the school’s Board of Trustees.

The President... Read More

Congratulations to our client, Dr. Anne Bruder, on her recent appointment as Head of The Hotchkiss School.

https://www.hotchkiss.org/post-page/~board/school-news/post/hotchkiss-announces-next-head-of-school

We were privileged to represent Dr. Bruder in her contract negotiations.

In a year fraught with news stories about higher education, the abrupt resignation of James Ryan, the President of the University of Virginia (UVA), stood out.

What prompted his resignation—conflict between the President’s more liberal view of where this historic university should... Read More

It is common in the commercial world for executives of large companies to have a coach to assist them through the tasks of upper management. The same has become true in the academic world.

Sophisticated College and University Presidents, as well as... Read More

We recently represented an executive in higher education selected to be a first-time College President. During a thoughtful and productive negotiation, both the School’s counsel and I had to acknowledge that many—and perhaps most—of the legal provisions in the contract which we... Read More