May It Please the Campus

Patricia E. Salkin, J.D., Ph.D. is the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost of the Graduate and Professional Division of Touro University. She is the former Dean of the Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center and previously served as Associate Dean, Director of the Government Law Center and the Raymond & Ella Smith Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School.

• AcknowledgementsMethodologyIntroduction: Higher Education in Crisis1. Lawyers, Leadership, and Higher Education2. Historically, Lawyers Have Been at the Forefront of Higher Education3. Lawyers Widely Accepted as Leaders across the Higher Education Landscape4. Characteristics of Lawyer Presidents5. Women Lawyers Emerging as Campus Presidents6. Lawyers Will Continue to Lead Campuses: What Does That Mean for the Future of Higher Education?FindingsAppendicesLawyer Presidents, 1700s to 2019Lawyer Presidents, 2020 to 2021Women Lawyer Presidents by Name, School, School Type, and LocationLawyer Presidents of Community Colleges by Name, School, School Type, and LocationLawyer Presidents of Religiously Affiliated Schools by Name, School, and LocationLawyer Presidents of HBCUs by Name, School, and LocationAppointments of Lawyer Presidents by DecadeLawyer Presidents by School Type and Decade, 1700 to 2019Lawyer Presidents and Where They Attended Law School, 1900–2019Tables and ChartsTable 1.1. Presidents with JDs, All Survey YearsTable 1.2. Appointments of Lawyer Presidents (by Decade)Chart 1.1. Distinct Lawyer Presidents Appointed by DecadeTable 1.3. Lawyers Serving as Presidents in Each DecadeChart 1.2. All Appointments of Lawyer Presidents by DecadeChart 2.1. Appointments of Lawyer Presidents (1800s)Chart 2.2. Appointments of Lawyer Presidents (by Half-Century)Chart 2.3. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Law Professor Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.4. Lawyer Presidents at Public Institutions with Prior Law Professor Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.5. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions with Prior Law Professor Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.6. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges with Prior Law Professor Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.7. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institutions with Prior Law Professor Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.8. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Law Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.9. Lawyer Presidents at Public Institutions with Prior Law Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.10. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions with Prior Law Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.11. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges with Prior Law Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 2.12. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institution with Prior Law Dean Experience (1900–2019)Table 3.1. Number of U. S. Postsecondary Institutions by Level of Institution and Region: Academic Year 2016–2017Table 3.2. Number of Lawyer Appointments by State (1900–2019)Chart 3.1. Top States for Lawyer Presidents (1900–2019)Map 3.1. Number of Lawyer Appointments by State (1900–2019)Chart 3.2. Top States for Lawyer Presidents (2010–2019)Map 3.2. Number of Lawyer Appointments by State (2010–2019)Table 3.3. Number and Percentage of Schools by State (2018) Map 3.3. Number of Lawyer Appointments at Public Institutions by State (2010–2019)Map 3.4. Number of Lawyer Appointments at Public Institutions by State (1900–2019)Map 3.5. Number of Lawyer Appointments at Private Institutions by State (2010–2019)Map 3.6. Number of Lawyer Appointments at Private Institutions by State (1900–2019)Map 3.7. Number of Lawyer Appointments at Community Colleges by State (2010–2019)Map 3.8. Number of Lawyer Appointments at Community Colleges by State (1900–2019)Map 3.9. Number of Lawyer Appointments at Religiously Affiliated Institutions by State (2010–2019)Map 3.10. Number of Lawyer Appointments at Religiously Affiliated Institutions by State (1900–2019)Chart 3.3. Public and Private Institutions with Lawyer Presidents (2010–2019)Chart 3.4. Public and Private Institutions with Lawyer Presidents (1900–2019)Table 3.4. Share of Institutional Control Led by JD Holding PresidentsTable 3.5. JD Holding Presidents, by Carnegie Classification and YearTable 3.6. Distribution of JD Holding Presidents, by Carnegie Classification and YearTable 3.7. Percentage of Presidents holding JDs, by Carnegie and ControlTable 3.8. Distribution of JD Holding Presidents Each Year, by Carnegie and ControlTable 3.9. Percentage Distribution of Grand Total of U. S. Postsecondary Institutions, by Level of Institution, and Region: Academic Year 2016–2017Chart 3.5. Community Colleges with Lawyer Presidents (1940–2019)Chart 3.6. Religiously Affiliated Institutions with Lawyer Presidents (1900–2019)Chart 3.7. Historically Black Colleges and Universities with Lawyer Presidents (1900–2019)Chart 3.8. Historically Black Colleges and Universities with Lawyer Presidents (2010–2019)Chart 3.9. Institutions with Law Schools Who Have Had Lawyer Presidents (2010–2019)Chart 3.10. Institutions with Law Schools Who Have Had Lawyer Presidents (1900–2019)Chart 4.1. Top Schools Attended by Lawyer Presidents (1900–2019)Table 4.1. Presidents Who Hold Additional Post-BA Degrees, among All PresidentsTable 4.2. Presidents Who Hold Additional Post-BA Degrees, among JD Holding PresidentsTable 4.3. JD Plus Other Degrees (1900–2019)Table 4.4. Prior Presidencies Held among All PresidentsTable 4.5. JD Holding Presidents by Prior PresidencyTable 4.6. Distribution of JD Holding Presidents by Prior Positions for Each Survey YearTable 4.7. Distribution of All Presidents by Prior Positions for Each Survey YearChart 4.2. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Academic Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.3. Lawyer Presidents at Public Institutions with Prior Academic Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.4. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions with Prior Academic Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.5. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges with Prior Academic Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.6. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institutions with Prior Academic Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.7. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.8. Lawyer Presidents at Public Institutions with Prior Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.9. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions with Prior Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.10. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges with Prior Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.11. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institutions with Prior Dean Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.12. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Provost Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.13. Lawyer Presidents at Public Institutions with Prior Provost Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.14. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions with Prior Provost Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.15. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges with Prior Provost Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.16. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institutions with Prior Provost Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.17. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Government Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.18. Lawyer Presidents at Public Institutions with Prior Government Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.19. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions with Prior Government Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.20. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges with Prior Government Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.21. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institutions with Prior Government Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.22. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Fundraiser Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.23. Lawyer Presidents at Public Institutions with Prior Fundraiser Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.24. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions with Prior Fundraiser Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.25. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges with Prior Fundraiser Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.26. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institutions with Prior Fundraiser Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.27. Lawyer Presidents with Prior General Counsel Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.28. Lawyer Presidents at Public with Prior General Counsel Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.29. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions with Prior General Counsel Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.30. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges with Prior General Counsel Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.31. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institutions with Prior General Counsel Experience (1900–2019)Chart 4.32. Lawyer Presidents Who Were Prior Board of Trustees Members (1900–2019)Chart 4.33. Lawyer Presidents at Public Institutions Who Were Prior Board of Trustees Members (1900–2019)Chart 4.34. Lawyer Presidents at Private Institutions Who Were Prior Board of Trustees Members (1900–2019)Chart 4.35. Lawyer Presidents at Community Colleges Who Were Prior Board of Trustees Members (1900–2019)Chart 4.36. Lawyer Presidents at Religiously Affiliated Institutions Who Were Prior Board of Trustees Members (1900–2019)Table 4.8. Distribution of Race among JD Holding Presidents, by Survey YearTable 4.9. Distribution of Race among All Presidents, by Survey YearTable 4.10. American Bar Association, National Lawyer Population Survey, Resident Active Attorney Demographics, Race/Ethnicity, 2011–2021Table 5.1. Distribution of JD Holding Presidents Each Year, by SexTable 5.2. Distribution of Presidents Each Year, by SexChart 5.1. Lawyer Presidents—Gender (2010–2019)Chart 5.2. Lawyer Presidents—Gender (1900–2019)Chart 5.3. Appointments of Female Lawyer Presidents (by Decade)Chart 5.4. Female Lawyer Presidents (Last Decade)Chart 5.5. Female Lawyer Presidents (by Decade)Map 5.1. Schools with Female Lawyer Presidents (1970–2019)Chart 5.6. Institutions with Female Lawyer Presidents (1970–2019)Chart 5.7. Institutions with Lawyer Presidents (1970–2019)Chart 5.8. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Academic Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.9. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Academic Experience (by Decade and Gender)Chart 5.10. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Academic Experience (1970–2019)Chart 5.11. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Law Professor Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.12. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Law Professor Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.13. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Law Professor Experience (1970–2019)Chart 5.14. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Law Dean Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.15. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Law Dean Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.16. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Law Dean Experience (1970–2019)Chart 5.17. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Provost Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.18. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Provost Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.19. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Provost Experience (1970–2019)Chart 5.20. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Government Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.21. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Government Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.22. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Government Experience (1970–2019)Chart 5.23. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior General Counsel Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.24. Lawyer Presidents with Prior General Counsel Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.25. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior General Counsel Experience (1970–2019)Chart 5.26. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Fundraiser Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.27. Lawyer Presidents with Prior Fundraiser Experience (by Decade)Chart 5.28. Female Lawyer Presidents with Prior Fundraiser Experience (1970–2019)Chart 5.29. Female Lawyer Presidents Who Were Prior Board of Trustees Members (by Decade)Chart 5.30. Lawyer Presidents Who Were Prior Board of Trustees Members (by Decade)Chart 5.31. Female Lawyer Presidents Who Were Prior Board of Trustees Members (by Decade)Bibliography

“[T]he final book on my list explores the job opportunities for lawyers who want to lead universities and colleges. For those of us who like statistics, this book is filled with helpful tables and charts. … For everyone else, Dr. Salkin reinforces what most of us instinctively know: good lawyers make good leaders. … That’s not to say that other disciplines aren’t also great in terms of turning out university and college presidents. They are. But this book lets us envision the possibility of such a career move for ourselves.” — Nancy B. Rapoport, Exemplary Legal Writing 2022 Book Recommendations, Green Bag Almanac & Reader“May it Please the Campus does so. It is skillfully edited, bolstered, and documented with vivid tables and charts, and a stunning array of appendices and references that should prove to be catnip for academic readers. Yet the compelling text is wonderfully engaging, and accessible to both professional search firms, search committees, trustees and other audiences involved in academic hiring. … Her book should prompt much needed conversations about the ingrained approaches to all kinds of academic searches. … Such a reevaluation of academic appointments is… sorely needed and it should matter to anyone who believes that higher education is critical to the world adequately responding to the existential issues of our time. Dr. Salkin’s work … does a great service to the academy because it suggests many avenues for further consideration, study and eventually for action.”— Nicholas W. Allard, ABA State and Local Government Law Section“Salkin demonstrates that lawyers’ skillsets make them particularly well equipped to handle the dynamic challenges facing university and college presidents. She also shows variances among types of schools, career paths, race, and sex, thereby revealing where legal training is most salient and, arguably, correlates with success as a candidate and a serving president.Salkin has assembled a broad database, enhanced with scholarly references, participant quotes, and relevant anecdotes to illustrate key points. It is comprehensive, exploring the wide range of factors bearing on leadership challenges in higher education.This is a valuable addition to the literature, and an especially helpful guide to those exploring leadership roles or participating in selection of leaders in our country’s colleges and universities.”— Timothy Fisher, Professor of Law and former Dean, University of Connecticut School of Law“Dr. Salkin provides a wonderful new resource on an important trend in higher education leadership. She combines extensive new data—reaching from the 1700s all the way to the most recent decades, and analyzed from multiple angles—with thoughtful analysis of the reasons why attorneys may be selected for, and succeed at, college and university top leadership roles. Dr. Salkin’s book is both insightful and inspiring, and its grounding in detailed historical facts should provide the basis for further analyses within higher education leadership studies. Her book is chock full of great history and context for all of higher education, not just its attorney leaders.”— William F. Howard, Attorney, Senior Consultant for Academic Search, Inc., and former SUNY Senior Vice Chancellor“Dr. Patricia Salkin’s May it Please the Campus: Lawyers Leading Higher Education is a highly readable examination of a phenomenon that is shaping higher education—the rise of the lawyer president. Through extensive original research, Dr. Salkin reveals the extent to which universities and colleges have reshaped the traditional profile for presidencies to include leaders trained in law. What’s more, Dr. Salkin probes the reasons behind the phenomenon to suggest why colleges and universities are selecting leaders trained differently than their predecessors. This book will be of interest to higher education leaders, recruiters, and individuals seeking college and university presidencies.”— Alicia Ouellette, President and Dean, Albany Law School“Dr. Salkin’s important book is original, engaging, provocative, comprehensive, and data driven. It’s a must read for anyone who cares about academic leadership and the future of higher education at a time when the only constants are accelerating change, daunting (often unexpected) crises, and proliferating regulation and legal challenges. Dr. Salkin provides us an invaluable resource for finding the right kind of lawyers who have the ‘Swiss-army-knife’-type professional tool kit and temperament to handle the myriad demands of academic administrative jobs. More broadly, given its historical sweep and insightful analysis of ample data, May It Please the Campus could soon become an essential guide for how to think about, refresh, and improve every facet of talent acquisition in academic settings.”— Nick Allard, Founding Dean, Jacksonville University College of Law, Former President and Dean, Brooklyn Law School