As a parent of a WashU student I can only say that Mark Wrighton is an amazing choice for an interim President. He was and continues to be loved by the students and faculty of WashU and along with his wife were always deeply engaged with the WashU community. In addition to that he is an incredibly  respected academic. During his tenure WashU has seen tremendous strides amoung its academic programs and endowment. 

Yes, he doesnt come from an athletic focused school but I will say he's a very big sports fan and I dont think as the interim president he will be setting the future trajectory of athletics at GW. But yes WashU has an extremely successful D3 program.

Here is the full letter  just sent out:

Dear Members of the George Washington University Community, 

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to welcome you back to what we hope will be a more normal academic year. We are very grateful to each and every one of you for helping us get through last year by focusing on health and safety, while still advancing our mission and sustaining the financial health of the university. 

The Board has spent much of the summer contemplating various options for the Presidential search, since President LeBlanc has announced his retirement. The President, as he has said consistently, wanted us to do whatever was in the best long-term interest for George Washington University and indicated he would be flexible on the timing of his retirement. 

Among the options the Board considered was proceeding with a traditional year long search for a permanent President; we also considered the possibility of an accelerated search. However, we grew concerned about the present academic marketplace for Presidents of universities of the caliber of GW because of the unusual number of vacancies (many as a result of retirements by Presidents after the stress of having to lead in the COVID-19 environment). We also felt that the university needed to be in the strongest possible position to attract the best talent. It is clear that there is work to be done for us to be in that position, especially working together to strengthen shared governance and collaborative planning. Therefore, the Board began to explore the possibility of an Interim President, with deep experience, to help us all position the university for a permanent President in what we hope will be a better Presidential marketplace. 

We are delighted to have found an extraordinary leader to serve as Interim President: Mark S. Wrighton, Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University in St. Louis, where he continues to teach as the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professor. As you will see from his brief resume, Professor Wrighton has had a remarkable career with awards for both his teaching and research (including over 300 published articles and 16 patents); was selected as a MacArthur Prize Fellow; has served as a faculty member, department chair, and Provost at MIT; and was Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis (ranked number 16 by US News) for 24 successful years. He has had a model academic career, and we were able to convince him that he could do much to help our university. (And perhaps we were assisted by the fact that he and Risa Zwerling, his wife, have young grandchildren in the DC area). He indicated that he would be willing to serve the university as Interim President for up to 18 months and would be available to start on January 1, 2022, if we wished. President LeBlanc indicated that this timing would be consistent with his wrapping up of several projects and encouraged the Board to seize this opportunity to bring such an outstanding leader to GW. I hope you will join me in welcoming and thanking Professor Wrighton for his commitment to the George Washington University that is actually in Washington!  

As a result of this decision, we will postpone appointing a Presidential search committee, with constituent representation, until late spring. And we will launch, in full consultation and partnership with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, a shared governance taskforce early this semester. It is our hope that this academic year will be a highly positive and productive one that leads to irreversible upward momentum for our university. 

Sincerely, 

 

Grace Speights
Chair, GW Board of Trustees

Last edited by Florida Colonial (9/10/2021 1:53 pm)

An article about Wrighton and athletics
Link

His Bio

Last edited by Florida Colonial (9/10/2021 3:04 pm)

Seemed odd, but unusually enough, what the Board said makes sense for GW. They must be in a hurry to show LeBlanc out the door, as noted above. Wonder if the horrors (for us,on basketball) perpetrated during the Knapp disaffected lame duck era had an influence on the board's decision? May not have wanted a repeat.
    Seems like a brilliant guy in his field and note with interest the early solar energy interest. We might be a little concerned about his hard science background, given how that emphasis played at GW, known for politics, etc. But Washington University certainly traditionally was very strong in government, ranked high in law and medicine, too, and it looks Wrighton has an understanding of the needs outside of his academic area. He's been at the helm of the entire university a long time.
   Plus, we have disparate posters vouching for him, which says a lot, too.
Don't know how this will play out in sports, including any hard decisions that would need to be made. But hopefully, that won't be an issue.
  And unlike Knapp, who seemed to only have only a quite vague understanding of GW's flagship sport and even less interest in the end, he understands and appreciates the role of sports in building a university community. And particularly, real scholar athletes, though that is easier in DIII.
    GW has often chosen the wrong path in basketball, academics, university affairs and campus life for some time, often with embarrassing results when we read about it. Wrighton has had long experience heading a good-sized, reputable university. The board seems to have, at least in a caretaker role, chosen experience and maturity, rather than a flashy candidate spouting buzzwords in an interview.
    Seems like it could work out well if he doesn't act like a lame duck caretaker.

jf wrote:

And of course, sorry for the loss of your friend, Mayhem, who would have appreciated this choice.

I appreciate that JF.  Yes, I can practically hear him say how it was about time that GW got smart and hired a Wash. U. genius to run the show.

Did or did not the application rates go up and the acceptances rates go down when the basketball team(s) were doing well?

We got a lot of rocks to look under, unfortunately.

The new (interim) University President has sent out an open letter to the University community on his first working day on the job...

https://president.gwu.edu/message-president-wrighton
 

Mentzinger  I think the answer to your question is 18 months, if the September 2021 statement from the Trustees is holds, He indicated that he would be willing to serve the university as Interim President for up to 18 months and would be available to start on January 1, 2022, if we wished.

My experience tells me you are right, EXCEPT for the impact of the pandemic. As someone else mentioned everything is interim. Since Wrighton won't be getting a honeymoon; if he gives GW 18 excellent months that would be huge. (How any head of any institution manages in a sea of emotionally driven expectations and no trust is beyond me.)
 

We can only hope we can find someone anything like Wrighton for the permanent job. Not only did an amazing job with WashU but loved by faculty and students. Always very hands on and visible on campus.. 

Maybe someone should tell him that during the Tiennanmen protests, GW did a great job of getting its Chinese exchange students on TV explaining the protests to the networks. Also, maybe he is just doing this so the Chinese let alum Meyers compete in the bobsled instead of being cooped up in COVID isolation...