The University was in a funk a year ago.
An active, hands-on president had abruptly resigned and the regents needed to pick a new president totally in the public's view. It was crunch time - interim President Homer Neal didn't want to fill in for long and the University needed permanent leadership.
The University has had only 11 presidents since it was established in 1817 and picking the 12th would be a historic decision.
"You really could have predicted disaster," said University historian Nicholas Steneck, a history professor. "It is another example where the University of Michigan has risen to the challenge."
On Tuesday, the Board of Regents pulled through and, after only minor opposition from two regents, Dartmouth Provost Lee Bollinger was unanimously chosen as the next University president.
Each former president - from Henry Tappan to James Duderstadt - left a legacy of being "the right person at the right time," regents said during their search.
"One of the fascinating things about Michigan presidents is that they all seem to fit the challenges of their time," Duderstadt said yesterday.
Bollinger, 50, can warm a room with his youthful presence and charisma. When he was the University's Law School dean from 1987-1994, his light-colored hair brought him the nickname "Dean Sundance."
Duderstadt said many believe Bollinger looks like actor Robert Redford.
What will the movie star look-a-like bring to the University and why was he chosen for the presidency?
"It's hard to say what Lee Bollinger's mission for the University will be," Duderstadt said. "He is an individual of immense skills - wisdom, integrity, courage. He is a genuinely really nice guy. And that goes a long way."
Faculty, students, alums and administrators rattled off superlatives to describe Bollinger after hearing about the selection Tuesday. Words like "intelligent," confident," "inspiring," "listener," "energetic," and "leader" rang throughout campus earlier this week after the board announced its selection.
The University's former presidents use similar praiseworthy adjectives when speaking about their successor.
"He knows, loves the University of Michigan, and he's a man of such exceptional intelligence, that he even has kind of a touch of eloquence to him and a rare understanding that very few people can bring to it," said former President Harlan Hatcher, now 98 years old.
Former President Harold Shapiro, who led the maize and blue from 1980-1987 and is now president at Princeton University, said Bollinger is lucky for the chance to lead the University.
"He's fortunate. It's a great opportunity for him," Shapiro said. "The University is also extremely fortunate."
While Duderstadt said Bollinger "always looks about 10-15 years younger than he is," the stresses and challenges of leading the University are bound to make him age quicker.
However, some of his personal qualities will help him face the upcoming challenges in higher education, said the last three University presidents.
"He has human attributes and strengths," Duderstadt said.
He's patient, he listens to others and people warm up to him easily, Duderstadt added.
"The University needs someone who is going to respect the views of the community and help the community carry those out," Steneck said.
Bollinger has another quality crucial for leading the University: a deep love for the institution and its traditions, which became apparent during his daylong campus visit as a finalist.
His ease in expressing this love - from a quick mention of Espresso Royale Caffe to a description about the University's unique role as a large, public institution - will likely boost campus pride.
During his public interview and town-hall style community meeting, Bollinger stressed the need for the University to grow intellectually.
"That fact that Bollinger has stressed again and again that he wants to be an academic president will mean that he will focus more on academic aspects," Steneck said.
Former President Robben Fleming, who served from 1968-1979, described Bollinger as a "guy of great personal integrity."
"He cares about people, and that includes students and faculty and regents and other people," Fleming said. "He'll be concerned for all the constituencies."
Steneck said Bollinger might take a "lower key approach" to the presidency as compared to Duderstadt, who had a very hands-on style.
"Jim was a very activist president in what he wanted to do," Steneck said. "Often after a period of aggressive leadership, you move into a period where you try to consolidate and evaluate."
Hatcher said the University needs Bollinger's personality to keep it moving and keep it ahead.
"Bollinger will be a good leader in a world where things change rapidly and unpredictably," said Hatcher, who served from 1951-1968.
"We're in constant change, in so many ways, and I think he has a very firm understanding of all those things," Hatcher added.
The University is extensively different from when Hatcher sat on the University's throne - for one, there has been a "marvelous transformation" in focusing on undergraduate education, Hatcher said.
Coming from the provost position at Dartmouth College, an institution recognized for its pre-eminent undergraduate education, Bollinger will likely bring his strong commitment back to the University.
In addition to strengthening undergraduate education, Duderstadt said the next president needs to focus on "rearticulating how the University relates to our broader society."
Since the University is currently financially strong and becoming more diverse, it must fulfill its public mission to the state, nation and world.
Duderstadt said there also needs to be an "intellectual evolution" in which the University becomes a more exciting place.
Duderstadt said Bollinger can lead during this time of evolution and revolution.
"Lee has the ability to focus on an issue, think about it deeply and my character is one where I am focusing on 20 to 30 things at once," Duderstadt said.
Shapiro said Bollinger has a unique ability to think in profound ways.
"Sometimes I wish I thought as deeply as he does," Shapiro said. "My experience with Lee is that he's a profound thinker."
Shapiro said he's seen many presidents come into top universities across the country, but Bollinger stands apart from the rest.
"There are very few that I'd put in Lee's category," Shapiro said.
Duderstadt warned Bollinger to take past presidents' advice with a grain of salt.
"He has to find out what his own particular goals and objectives are during his period of leadership," Duderstadt said. "It is important that he not be too persuaded or channeled by people he knows from the past."
Duderstadt said as much as Bollinger's personality will shape the presidency and the University, the changing times will also influence Bollinger's presidency.
"The times make the person as much as the person makes the times," Duderstadt said. "The institution has a way of shaping you."
During a dinner with regents while on campus for the public interview, Bollinger said it will be crucial to form a strong executive officer team as quickly as possible.
"People who are presidents have their own styles and their own capacities, and they have to know how to find other people to do the things they can't do so well," Hatcher said.
Duderstadt also instructed Bollinger to "recruit an outstanding officer team."
"With a strong team, everything else will work," Duderstadt said.
All three past presidents said Bollinger will bring something special to the University.
"I think he'll be absolutely stupendous," Shapiro said. "He'd be a great president of any university in this country. They don't come any better."
Shapiro said Bollinger is ready to return to his home, Ann Arbor.
But as excited as he'll be, Shapiro said, "The University community ought to be even more ecstatic."
- Daily Staff Reporter Jeff Eldridge contributed to this report.
Standing apart from the rest
The three past University presidents each said Bollinger has specific personality traits that will help him as president - qualities that are also very different from their own.A smooth transition
Bollinger, the finalist with the closest ties to the University, can to hit the ground running - an ability the regents cited when endorsing Bollinger. 
Harlan Hatcher
Robben Fleming
Photo courtesy of News and Information Services
Former University President James Duderstadt looks at one of the hallmarks of his tenure, the University's technology.