[NU Sports] Pres. Bienen to retire in 2009

[Mark Ament]

I have to agree with Paul, having gotten to know President Bienen only a
little and Strotz far too well.  Bienen is probably everything you want in a
current university president - a top flight scholar, smooth and highly
successful fund raiser, and a down to earth person who genuinely cares about
the students and what they believe.  Importantly, for the people on this
list, he is a sports fan for whom the success of the athletic department
mattered.  A welcome contrast to the Strotz years I lived through during my
four years.

It will be vital to NU's continued success that Bienen's successor carries
many of those same qualities.  The fund raising is not complete (it probably
never is for a university president).  The success of the athletic
department, particularly football but, if handled properly, even basketball,
can contribute in many ways to the fund raising campaigns of the university.
For NU to continue to excel and for it to maintain its place as an academic
powerhouse whose student body also has the benefits that come from a big
time athletic program, the new president should not just recognize its
importance, but be a sports fan himself or herself.  To intellectually
recognize it is one thing but to feel it and connect wit it emotionally is
to place it on a different plane entirely. Lets hope that is what we wind up
with when the search is complete.

Mark
 
.

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of NEONRye at aol.com
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 6:40 PM
To: nolan at romaine.tssi.com; nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Pres. Bienen to retire in 2009

President Bienen will be missed and will be hard to replace.  While  some 
decisions he made (such as replacing long-time Dean of Speech School (whose
name 
currently escapes me) were controversial, I don't think anyone could argue  
that the University's overall reputation--academically and athletically--has

grown substantially in the years of his tenure as President.  Having seen
the 
man at Continental Arena in the Meadowlands in New Jersey when we played  
Seton Hall there a few years ago I can attest to his passion and support for
NU's 
sports programs.  And his "down to earth" persona when my son and  I bumped 
into him in the Mens Room at halftime. 
 
I think that his graceful exit, giving the School ample time to find a  
replacement and set up an orderly transition, speaks volumes about his love
for  
the institution and his devotion to its enhancement.  I hope that everyone
on 
this list recognizes his contributions.  
 
Those of us who lived through the era of Rocky Miller as Chancellor and Bob

Strotz as President know how profound can be the damage wrought by  
backward-looking administrators, damage to the athletic program, and to the
morale of 
the student body and faculty.  I remember in the early  '70's--a difficult 
time, to be sure, in many ways--thinking that we had an  administration that

didn't care at all what we felt or had to say.  I doubt  that today's
student body 
feels the same way.   We used to say that NU  didn't have an identity--we
used 
to wonder what was it about Northwestern that  was unique and at its 
core--thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case any  more.
 
I think that the Board of Trustees will have some large shoes to fill, but
I 
am hopeful that President Bienen's success and prominence will make this a  
sought-after position, with outstanding applicants.
 
Paul Levinson



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