Richard L. McCormick named 19th president of Rutgers Archived article from Nov 4, 2002 By Bill Glovin   Richard L. McCormick Photo by Nick Romanenko A sense of history in the making, along with excitement and anticipation, filled the air as Richard L. McCormick was introduced as the university's 19th president Oct. 25. McCormick stood proudly as a standing-room-only crowd in Winants Hall rose to their feet to welcome him and his family back to Rutgers. "Let me tell you from the bottom of my heart how proud I am to accept," he told members of the Rutgers Board of Governors and Board of Trustees, who unanimously approved his appointment. "Rutgers faculty, staff and students, let me tell you how proud I am to be home." The 54-year-old McCormick, who called becoming president of Rutgers "a dream come true," is currently president of the University of Washington. Even before he takes office Dec. 1, he plans to spend time on each of the three campuses during November, listening to the concerns of faculty, staff and students. "Rutgers is a historic and diverse institution," he said. "From blueberries to neurobiology to public policy to collaborations with K¨C12 schools, it fulfills the role of a great state university and will continue to do so in the years ahead." In announcing the appointment, Gene O'Hara, chair of the board of governors, noted that McCormick embodies the qualities that Rutgers is looking for in its next leader. "In Dr. McCormick, we have an individual of national stature and accomplishment, who is ready to engage Rutgers' community of students, faculty, staff and alumni. He is a man who many are calling one of the top university presidents in the country, someone who will be a powerful voice for higher education not only on campus, but at the state and national levels as well." The timing of the announcement caught the university community by surprise. On Oct. 3, the board of governors - in the midst of uncertainty over the state Commission on Health Science, Education and Training's proposal to merge Rutgers with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the New Jersey Institute of Technology - temporarily suspended the presidential search for a successor to President Francis L. Lawrence and named former Newark Provost Norman Samuels as acting president. A few days before the board's announcement, McCormick had publicly withdrawn his name from consideration. "Neither my heart nor my head was able to rest easy with my decision," McCormick said in a press conference after accepting the position. "I withdrew from consideration for good reasons." Among his concerns: ongoing challenges at the University of Washington, the uncertainty of the future of higher education in New Jersey and the desire of his family, especially his 13-year-old son, Michael, to remain in Seattle. But soon after withdrawing from "a job I dreamed about for many years," McCormick started to reconsider. He talked to his board of regents in Washington and then called O'Hara to "reopen the conversation." McCormick said his first mission "would be to listen and listen hard to all of the university's constituencies." Although he has been away from Rutgers for 10 years, he knows "academic quality is spread throughout this institution. We're going to maintain it, enhance it and provide even greater teaching, research and service to the people of New Jersey," he said. He also noted that faculty have not been "as well consulted as they should be, or had much hope for the future for their disciplines and for the university. We're going to turn that around," he said. McCormick's is the story of a son returning home. Born in New Brunswick and a graduate of Piscataway High School, he is the son of Richard P. McCormick, a prominent history professor whose distinguished career at Rutgers spans decades. The incoming president's mother, Katheryne McCormick, enjoyed a long and successful career as an administrator at Rutgers. They still live in the same Piscataway house where McCormick grew up. An accomplished scholar in American political history, McCormick received his B.A. in American studies from Amherst College in 1969 and a Ph.D. in history from Yale University in 1976. He began his teaching career at Rutgers as an assistant professor in 1976 and was promoted to associate professor in 1981 and to professor in 1985. In 1985 he held a prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. Before assuming the presidency at the University of Washington in 1995, McCormick served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and as executive vice chancellor at the University of North Carolina¨CChapel Hill. Prior to that, he was dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in New Brunswick from 1989 to 1992 and chair of the Rutgers department of history from 1987 to 1989. McCormick is married to Suzanne Lebsock, a professor in the University of Washington's history department, who advanced from assistant professor to professor at Rutgers between 1977 and 1993, and was acting director of women's studies at Rutgers from 1986 to 1987. Lebsock also held a Guggenheim Fellowship and recently held a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, sometimes called a "genius" award. "I'm the number three scholar in the family," McCormick said, teasingly referring to his wife and father. The couple have two children, Betsy, a senior in high school, and Michael, who is in the eighth grade. McCormick's family will complete the academic year in Seattle before relocating to New Jersey. While McCormick said that Rutgers will continue to review the report of the Commission on Health Science, Education and Training, which recommends merging institutions of higher education in New Jersey, and that it was premature for him to comment on specific proposals, he noted that he has had the privilege of serving at two universities with outstanding schools of medicine. "The advantages of having comprehensive institutions with all of their disciplines and departments together is simply hard to replicate," said McCormick. "It benefits everybody, especially students, who have exceptional opportunities to learn from faculty in fields like medicine and conduct their research in labs alongside them. It can also benefit those who do related biomedical sciences at Rutgers; many are already collaborating extensively with UMDNJ on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campuses. Law, the social sciences, philosophy, public policy - all have questions that are fully entwined with medicine and health sciences. There is a great deal of strength and synergy that comes from collaboration across disciplinary lines." The new president will earn $525,000 a year, said O'Hara, who pointed out that Rutgers is providing its new president with a compensation package that is in line with the higher education marketplace. "Recent hires at other large public universities demonstrate today's compensation realities. In the case of the University of Michigan, it's $677,000; Arizona State is $520,000. We think our salary is fair given those benchmarks and market conditions, and considering his stature, ability and experience." O'Hara publicly thanked members of the Presidential Search Committee, who reviewed more than 200 nominations and applications and spent the final two months of its activities interviewing candidates to select a slate of four finalists. "The search committee did an outstanding job, and we are indebted to the members for their service," he said to rousing applause. "I extend my heartfelt thanks to each committee member for a job well done, especially John Colaizzi, who served as chair and led the committee so well." "I also want to thank the members of the search committee for their hard work, thoughtfulness and dedication to representing the many stakeholders in this process," said Colaizzi, dean of the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. "The committee felt that the high caliber of candidates attracted by the search was a reflection of the university's high standing in the academic and business communities. I wish to publicly express my appreciation to Gene O'Hara and the members of the board of governors for entrusting this important task to the search committee," he added. "We are very pleased and proud that we were able to fulfill that trust." "This is a momentous day for Rutgers," said Leslie E. Goodman, chair of the board of trustees and a member of the Board of Trustees Presidential Selection Advisory Committee. "As a university community, we have chosen a superb new president. We believe that Dick McCormick is the right choice to lead this historic institution into the future." Norman Samuels, who will continue as acting president until Dec. 1, was also thanked by O'Hara and received rousing applause and his own standing ovation. "The board appreciates Dr. Samuels' dedication and his willingness to take leave from a long-anticipated return to the classroom to serve as acting president of the university during this period," O'Hara said. "His commitment to this institution is extraordinary, and the board is truly in his debt. The Rutgers community will continue to benefit from his astute guidance as we prepare over the next several weeks for a transition in university leadership." "No one will be as pleased - and relieved - to welcome Dick McCormick back to Rutgers as I," said Samuels. "I know him and have the highest regard for him; I think he's the right choice." McCormick concluded his remarks by talking about the importance of preparing students to enter a global economy and the need for continued state funding toward achieving that goal. "My message to you this morning is one of optimism and forward motion," he said. "I could not be prouder to become your president, of returning to this institution with my family. I appreciate the opportunity you've given me to lead, and I do not intend to let you down."

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