Elite universities need presidents who can thrive in a ‘pressure cooker.’ Are executive search firms the solution?

Take, for example, Harvard, Penn, Stanford, and Yale, where searches for the top jobs are underway as the schools must confront an unprecedented number of challenges. Three of the vacancies came about rather suddenly as presidents bowed out due to scandal or political pressure. (Yale’s president is just retiring.)

In a Fortune article, I explore how university presidents currently face a host of non-academic challenges—from disruptive technology to geopolitics to head-spinning budget processes—and, critics argue, how the process of replacing them is due for an upgrade.

“Given the fact that the stakes are so high now in being a university president—such a highly visible position—and then you’re in a hyper-sensitive environment that has simply turned up the pressure cooker, it just requires greater expertise and outside help in the hiring process,” Mark T. Williams, a master lecturer in the finance department at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, told me.  

Williams, a former board of trustees member at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., explained that typically, in a presidential search, a subcommittee is appointed within the board and charged with reviewing and interviewing candidates, in addition to making recommendations. It’s a process that could use some updating, added Williams, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor and senior associate dean at Yale School of Management who recently penned a related Fortune opinion piece, likely would agree. Sonnenfeld served on the National Commission on University Governance Reform of the Association of Government Boards of Colleges and Universities.

“What we see happens too often in the Ivy Leagues: They fall victim to their own network of people that are already a restricted pool of people,” Sonnenfeld told me. “If it’s an insider that’s known for not making waves, not upsetting anybody, they might be great at building peace but not building vision.” 

I talked with Williams, Sonnenfeld, and a recruiting expert about the pros and cons of top colleges using outside search firms, the churn rate among university presidents, and who, ultimately, is the type of person willing to take on a role that Williams calls “the impossible job.”

You can read the complete article here. Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the university where Mark T. Williams was a former board of trustee member. It was Lesley University.

Leaderboard

Some notable moves this week:

Noémie Heuland was named SVP and CFO at Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO), effective April 1. Heuland brings nearly 25 years of financial leadership experience. She joins Moody’s from Dayforce where she has served as EVP and CFO since 2020. Before Dayforce, Heuland spent 12 years with global enterprise application software provider SAP. 

Susan Keefe was named CFO at Benson Hill, Inc. (NYSE: BHIL), an ag tech company, effective March 29. Keefe succeeds Dean Freeman, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Freeman will continue to serve in the role until Keefe begins at the company. Most recently, Keefe served as CFO of GreenLight Biosciences. Before joining GreenLight, she served as CFO, VP of finance at Danforth Advisors.

Iain Balchin was named CFO of Tradeshift, a B2B e-commerce and fintech platform. Balchin joins Tradeshift from Dublin-listed energy storage company Corre Energy, where he led an equity raise. Before that, he held group CFO positions at the publishing business XL Media and wealth management firm Ascot Global.

Jenny Osterhout was named CFO at OneMain Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: OMF), effective March 31. Osterhout joined OneMain in January 2020 and has served as chief strategy officer since November 2020. Before joining the company, she held a number of positions at BNY Mellon, including as CFO of its Investment Management Group, as well as head of all BNY Corporate Development.

Bradley T. Camden was named EVP and CFO at Kemper Corporation (NYSE: KMPR), effective immediately. Camden has served as Interim CFO since September 2023. Camden joined Kemper in 2020 as SVP and treasurer. Prior to Kemper, Camden spent 15 years at Northern Trust Asset Management, where he served in a number of finance leadership roles, including head of long duration fixed income.

Ronald Ballschmiede, CFO at Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NasdaqGS: STRL), plans to retire in 2024. Ballschmiede will stay on as CFO until his successor is named and will continue for a transition period. 

Big deal

The telecom industry has embraced the generative AI wave, according to a new report by Nvidia. Generative AI did not feature in the 2022 survey. But in the 2023 survey, 43% of respondents reported they were investing in it.

Among respondents who are investing in the technology, 57% are using generative AI to improve customer service and support, with the same percentage using it to improve employee productivity, according to Nvidia's State of AI in Telecommunications report. Meanwhile, almost half (48%) of respondents are using generative AI for network operations and management, 40% said network planning and design, and 32% said marketing content generation. Forty percent of respondents used their own data to train an internal generative AI model, which they then use to augment their existing solutions. 

For stakeholders in the telecom industry, the ultimate outcome is to grow their revenues or reduce costs with AI, according to Nvidia. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported that AI adoption has helped them increase revenues, with 19% noting that this revenue growth is more than 10%. However, several challenges continue to hinder the widespread adoption of AI and generative AI in the industry, with a lack of skills or finding the appropriate skilled labor named by respondents as the top challenge. The findings are based on a global survey of more than 400 telecommunications industry professionals. 

Going deeper

Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:

"Forget snowbirds: Jeff Bezos is leading the migration of ultrawealthy taxbirds flocking to Florida’s lower tax rates" by Dylan Sloan

"Alleged fraudster Charlie Javice loses bid to have JPMorgan pay for counterclaims as legal battle continues" by Luisa Beltran

"Delta pays out $1.4 billion in profit sharing" by Chris Morris

"Magnolia Bakery’s CEO says her 1-hour walk to work every day in NYC helps fuel her creativity for the next viral recipe" by Payton Kirol

Overheard

"The U.S. has always met challenges with innovative solutions. After all, our nation is symbolized by the eagle, not the ostrich. Combatting pollution and stabilizing the climate is no exception."

—Ed Farrington, the president of Impax Asset Management, writes in a new Fortune opinion piece.