<p>As many know, Lawrence University has announced a new president--- Mark Burstein. As we all know, Jill Beck has done a wonderful job with all of her programs. Anyway, Burstein comes to Lawrence with a strong reputation (executive vice president of Princeton University,) and if I remember correctly he also worked for Columbia. Either way, he has had great success. What do you all think will come out of this? I mean he has obviously done well, and values collaboration, but he has been more University-focused than LAC focused. I know he did go to Vassar and eventually Wharton, which is all incredibly impressive, but I want to know what you all think. Thanks, ~Marshall</p>
<p>First, let me say I am a huge Lawrence fan. My son has applied there EA, and it is on his very short list of top schools (assuming he gets in!), I would be thrilled if he ended up there. I think Burstein is a very interesting choice, not your traditional LAC president. He does not come from the acedemic side of higher ed–MBA not PhD, I believe never held a faculty position, his role at Columbia was facilities maangement/development, at Princeton a much larger role including fundraising and student life, but not on the academic side. I would be really curious to know the Lawrence board’s thinking, but I have to believe that at least in part it is the belief that because of his “big time” higher ed, government and business connections, he has some ability to really take Lawrence up a notch or two in terms of resources. If that is right, I agree–I think Lawrence is a place that is ready to explode in terms of its national recognition. My sense is that it is a place that knows very much what it is about, at least in part because it has a very strong, committed faculty. Lawrence may not need a president right now whose particular strength is on the acedemic side. A person with Burstein’s apparent strengths may be able to make a huge impact there.</p>
<p>After reading a different thread, and as the mom of a sophomore at LU, I want to say I am delighted with the selection of the new president. He will bring new/unique diversity to the community both on campus and in the greater Appleton area. It is also exciting to see that ‘not everyone needs a Ph.D.’ to impress and become a leader at different institutions. President Beck has done a marvelous job during her many years leading the campus. I look forward to seeing what the new president puts on the table as initiatives in the coming years. I also trust in the committee that worked hard all of last year to keep members of the Lawrence community updated and involved in their search procedures/process/progress.</p>
<p>I understand that he doesn’t have a PhD, but I would argue that an MBA from Wharton is more prestigious than some-many PhD programs.</p>
<p>Please don’t take my comments as an argument that a PhD is necessary to be a college president, or that a PhD is necessarily more prestigious than an MBA from Wharton. Again, I am a big fan of Lawrence, and a big fan of the choice of Burstein. My comment above is more about what I see as somewhat of a daring choice by Lawrence–my guess is that very few top LAC presidents do not have a PhD, the traditional path to college president is a PhD. But I like it that Lawrence is willing to think outside of the box, doing so with this decision just confirms what I already thought about the place.</p>
<p>I am actually excited about the new president at Lawrence.I feel like this will certainly be a new era for Lawrence .Lawrence is like one of those unknown good school that is ready to explode.Being a admitted students especially one from the east coast ,people tend to downgrade Lawrence because its in the midwest(Wisconsin).But I know for a fact that if this college was located in the east coast or the west coast it would one of to go schools I just which city kids would explore more.I hate when I have to defend the location of the school rather than the school itself.Lawrence is a great place.</p>
<p>LU would have a 20% acceptance rate if it were in New York, Massachusetts, Conneticut, or maybe California or Texas.</p>
<p>Anybody who is graduating high school in 2014 reading this prior to, say, November, consider Lawrence. Frankly, the school has had success in the past, and with the initiation of Burstein, who knows where we’ll go from here. I say “we” because I admire the school. Luckily, for us 2014-ers, we’ll have some time to evaluate Burstein in action before we apply. I am applying to six other schools in addition to Lawrence, all of which have higher rankings, but none of which have the quality that is unmatched at LU.</p>