An insider's account of higher education from a legendary university
leader
Lessons Learned gives unprecedented access to the university
president's office, providing a unique set of reflections on the
challenges involved in leading both research universities and liberal
arts colleges. In this landmark book, William Bowen, former president of
Princeton University and of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and
coauthor of the acclaimed bestseller The Shape of the River, takes
readers behind closed faculty-room doors to discuss how today's colleges
and universities serve their age-old missions.
With extraordinary candor, clarity, and good humor, Bowen shares the
sometimes-hard lessons he learned about working with trustees, faculty,
and campus groups; building an effective administrative team; deciding
when to speak out on big issues and when to insist on institutional
restraint; managing dissent; cultivating alumni and raising funds;
setting academic priorities; fostering inclusiveness; eventually
deciding when and how to leave the president's office; and much more.
Drawing on more than four decades of experience, Bowen demonstrates how
his greatest lessons often arose from the missteps he made along the
way, and how, when it comes to university governance, there are
important general principles but often no single right answer.
Full of compelling stories, insights, and practical wisdom, Lessons
Learned frames the questions that leaders of higher education will
continue to confront at a complex moment in history.
