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Regents pick firm to find president

Russel Reynolds Associates Inc. has found the director of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the president of an aquarium and the leader of an art museum.

Now, the consulting firm will work with the Board of Regents to find the University's next president.

The regents chose Malcolm MacKay, managing director of the New York- based firm after interviewing five candidates. The firm was selected Friday, moments before the regents concluded their series of nine public forums held across the state.

"The regents, with the help of the advisory committee, have to define what they are looking for," MacKay said in an interview Friday. "You can't have everything. You have to decide what are the most important things."

Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor) said that finding a president requires the work of many people.

"You look at a search consultant as an important member of the team," she said. "The search committee plays a greater role than the search consultant him or herself."

MacKay's list of credentials includes finding leaders of prominent business organizations, ranging from the president of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to the head of the National Audubon Society.

The firm also has advised presidential searches at other schools, such as American University in Washington, D.C., and Syracuse University in New York.

"It's one of the leading firms in the country and one of the largest," said Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor).

MacKay said most candidates will probably have experience in both academics and business.

"Candidates have to have academic credentials, but other factors are necessary on top of that," MacKay said about the sucessor to James J. Duderstadt.

He said it is essential that the regents not only narrow the description of the next University president, but also outline the role of the search advisory committee early in the process.

MacKay said he will work with a search committee selected by the regents.

Walter Harrison, vice president for University relations, is scheduled to present a plan and timetable to the regents Thursday on the next steps in the search. Harrison would not say if the plan, which he designed with Provost J. Bernard Machen and Secretary Roberta Palmer, includes using an advisory committee.

During his interview, MacKay discussed the restrictions placed on the regents by the Open Meetings Act, a state law that requires all information about such searches be made public, including the names of potential candidates.

MacKay said he has never read Michigan's act, but knows the importance of simultaneously obeying the law and allowing candidates some confidentiality.

"It is important that you respect confidentiality as long as you can," he said. "You will destroy people's careers if you don't."

The University's presidential search will be the first one MacKay has conducted at a public institution. He said he made an exception for the University, but in the past he has stayed away from public schools because of "so much red tape."

MacKay said he will not be involved in any other university searches during the next year.

"I was very impressed when he said he only works on one university search per year," said Regent Nellie Varner (D-Detroit), a co-chair of the search.

"I felt concerned about the focus and attention we'd get from someone working on 18 cases at one time," Varner added, referring to another firm the regents interviewed.

Although the board decided unanimously to hire MacKay, Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor) said he voted for MacKay only to show consensus among the board.

"He has limited experience in higher education," Baker said in an interview yesterday. "But I think Mr. MacKay can do a good job."

MacKay's fee has not yet been determined, but he indicated that the firm's policy is to charge one-third of the next president's first-year salary. Duderstadt now earns $260,709 per year.

-- Daily Staff Reporters Jeff Eldridge and James M. Nash contributed to this report.