<p>I thought it was a pretty surprising pick. I wasn’t expecting somebody without a PhD, who was never a full-time professor and who didn’t have any experience at a LAC.</p>
<p>The outgoing president of Grinnell was a lawyer, too (Yale BA and JD). He also taught history. No PhD. Their new president is a doctor. Maybe they want someone who isn’t a PhD, deliberately.</p>
<p>I believe the new President of Grinnell does have a PHD(see below link) and he is no run of the mill doctor either. He has been the Deputy Director of the NIH (National Institute of Health) and has an amazing resume. See this:</p>
<p>[Grinnell</a> announces 13th President - News | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/news/releases/13th-president]Grinnell”>http://www.grinnell.edu/news/releases/13th-president)</p>
<p>Carleton’s new president reminds me a bit of Nancy Bekavac, who was by all reports a very successful president of Scripps College from 1990 - 2007. She, also, was a J.D. but not a PhD.</p>
<p>It may well be that among other characteristics and objectives, successful fundraising was a key issue. According to the publicity blurbs, Poskanzer accomplished a lot in this regard at SUNY New Paltz.</p>
<p>Although neither are true LACs, both Princeton (where Poskanzer did his undergradute work) and Chicago (where he was assistant to the president) bill themselves, with some justification, as among the most LAC-like research universities.</p>
<p>Fundraising ability may have been a major factor. I know it was a big part of the reason they picked Oden to replace Steve Lewis.</p>
<p>Some great video clips. I especially like “What is the place of liberal arts in higher ed?”</p>
<p>This is great (video of event at Carleton announcing new president):</p>
<p><a href=“https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/president/announce/event/[/url]”>https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/president/announce/event/</a></p>