PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 24, No. 15, Feb. 17, 2005

Meet the President

Interview by Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor

Photography by Clark Brooks

For Joe White, the new president of the University of Illinois, the first few weeks of February were a whirlwind of visits to all three campuses; meetings with administrators, state and local legislators and the Illinois Board of Higher Education; media interviews and get-togethers with faculty members and students. White took office on Jan. 31, upon the retirement of former President James J. Stukel. White has nearly three decades of experience in higher education as a faculty member, interim president and dean of the business school of the University of Michigan, and has leadership experience in the corporate sector. A prolific fund-raiser while at Michigan, White has taken the UI's helm during a challenging time, when it likely faces another difficult fiscal year as a result of the state's troubled economy, and tuition and fee increases have some people concerned about affordability and access for prospective students.

Click photo to enlarge New home UI President Joe White (right) and his wife, Mary, play with their dog, Webster, a Coton de Tulear, at the President’s House in Urbana. Before he accepted the position last fall, White said he and Mary paid a discreet visit to the Urbana campus and were struck by its beauty.

You've been on the job a few weeks now. How are things going and what kinds of things have you been working on so far?
Things are going great. I love the job and the university. Every day that goes by, I learn more and find more to admire about the University of Illinois. Finding my way around has proved to be a big priority. I know to take Lincoln Avenue to Green Street to Wright Street to get from the President's House to my office.

On Feb. 8, the governor canceled his scheduled trip to Champaign-Urbana, and I had a free lunch hour. So we found about eight students and I had lunch with them over in the Illini Union. I learned a lot about them and about their views of the university.

It just fires me up to be with the students because they are at such a great stage of life. They have a lot of dreams and aspirations, and the university's helping prepare them to achieve their goals and make their dreams come true. So that was fun.

That same day, I went to a faculty recognition award dinner and was reminded of the incredible faculty that we have at Urbana and the great job they're doing in their teaching and research - from the sciences to the humanities.

I also met with Michael Grossman, chair of the (Urbana-Champaign) Senate Executive Committee. I told him that in my view faculty governance groups are extremely valuable, not only for the governance role they play but also as a method of getting feedback from our faculty members. I look forward to those sessions.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich will be giving his state budget address soon. What kind of a budget should we expect for the coming fiscal year?
We know it's not going to be an easy budget year. The state's economy is on the mend and revenues are improving, but obligations are improving faster than revenues, so there's going to be a gap again. I'm hopeful that the governor and the Legislature will take the long view and reflect in their budget decisions that the UI is the single best investment that they can make in the future of Illinois.

Will we experience any budgetary rescissions or deep cuts like we've had in recent years?
I hope not, but I don't know.

What are your priorities during your first year?
First, to reach out to all the members of our community and those on whom we depend: faculty, students, staff, alumni, public officials and legislators, in order to begin building the relationships on which everything else depends.

Second, to create a strategic plan for the next decade that lays out as a roadmap both where we're headed and how we're going to get there in terms of priorities and resources. And we have that process under way. The chancellors and I are working very closely together on taking the lead because I think the people who run the campuses as well as the central administration of the university need to have ownership of that plan.

Third, to continue to develop a new compact to ensure proper financial support of the University so that we can maintain and develop both excellence and access. The compact is my shorthand for an agreement among five parties on whom future funding of the university depends: the state, our students and their families, our faculty members, private donors and the leadership of the university. I think if all five parties do their part there's no question we can have the funding we need to maintain this extraordinarily valuable asset for the people of Illinois, the nation and the world.

Finally, I intend to get going on the resource-gathering aspect of my job. I intend to be very active in fund raising as well as other forms of resource gathering.

All this is a team effort with the vice presidents, the chancellors and other senior people at the university. Day in and
day out, what I'm doing is linking arms with people, including alumni and friends, to make great things happen.

How would you describe yourself as a leader? What values do you bring to the culture here?
I have a great appetite for talented people. There's nothing I value or enjoy more than working with talented people, each of whom is doing an excellent job and who are together doing a better job than any one could do. So I really care about the people with whom I work. I view myself as a playing coach: collaborating, doing my part, expecting other people to do their part and work together.

It probably goes without saying that the foundation of all good leadership is integrity - making commitments carefully and keeping them faithfully. Always taking the long view. Doing what's right for the institution over the long haul. Avoiding the expedient and convenient in favor of the wise and enduring, even when that path is harder.

I really enjoy my work. I wake up every day eager to come to work and meet new challenges and accomplish things. I like celebrating success and recognizing other people's achievements. I really enjoyed the Feb. 8 faculty recognition dinner, at which we thanked people and recognized them for the great things they have accomplished. That's the privilege that the president has.

You've had an interesting career that has spanned the business world and academia. Given the financial challenges facing state-funded universities and their ties with economic development, is a business background becoming more important for university leaders than a background in academics?
I worked for a very wise man once who said that integrity, character, intelligence and achievement always need to come first, not specific preparation. And I agree with that. The university is not a business, even though there are business-like aspects of it. We have a mission, not a bottom line. We have special values in the university, including freedom of inquiry and expression. I've had a fair amount of experience in business, but I've chosen to make my life, my career primarily in the world of education.

Of all the accomplishments throughout your career, what are you proudest of?
I have most enjoyed playing a role in helping other people grow, develop and achieve things that they thought were not possible for them. In the kind of work I've done, there's been a lot of opportunity to do that. That's given me the greatest satisfaction. Sometimes it is a former student who comes up to me in an airport and says, 'I knew you when' and 'Let me tell you what's happened to me and the role that your course or some advice you gave me or your believing in me when nobody else did played in my life.' That's really meant a lot to me.

When I was a young man, I worked for six years at Cummings Engine Co. in Columbus, Ind., a diesel engine company. When I left, the officers of the diesel workers union came into my office and handed me a little memento and said they wanted me to know that they found me honest and fair. They thanked me for my years of service. We had been through some very hard times together. Earning the respect of hard-working people is something I'm proud of. I'd like to do that always.

Here's another thing of which I'm proud: I was born in the city of Detroit, and 40 years later I was dean of the University of Michigan business school. I thought it was important that all of our new students understand the notion that with privilege goes responsibility and that our free-enterprise system is the greatest system in history for producing the highest standard of living and the most opportunity for the most people. But I also wanted them to understand that it is a very imperfect system, and it leaves a fair amount of wreckage in its wake. I decided to personally lead new-student orientation, and I took them into the city of Detroit where they could see both the wonders and the woes of our free-enterprise system. It led to really rich discussions among our students and a deep understanding of both the great value of our system and its hard edges. I also introduced the students to the leaders of some amazing human-service organizations, people who perform miracles on a shoestring. I think there was a lot of value in that.

You took a leave of absence from the University of Michigan in 2003 to assist the Alger Co. in New York City in recovering from the attacks on the World Trade Center. Tell me about that.
David Alger was a graduate of the U-M business school. I got acquainted with him when he served on our Senior Advisory Committee. The Alger Co. had its investment offices on the 93rd floor of the North Tower of The World Trade Center. The first plane came in on the 92nd floor. So David Alger, who was my friend, and 34 other people in the company, some of whom I knew, died tragically on the morning of Sept. 11. Some months later, David's older brother, Fred, asked me if I would come into the company for a period of time to help stabilize things and rebuild and prepare his sons-in-law to run the business. When those terrible attacks occurred, we all wanted to be good citizens. An opportunity to help was handed to me, and it enabled me to feel that I was really doing something to help rebuild after the tragedy of 9-11.

Will you be doing any teaching or other activities that get you into the classrooms?
Yes, I plan to do guest lectures in courses on leadership, management and organization on all three campuses so that I can interact with our students in their workplace ... the classroom.

What interests do you have outside of work?
I love my work and devote a lot of time to it. I also enjoy time with my wife, Mary, and our children and grandchildren. Mary and I like our dog, Webster, a lot. I love music, reading, jogging and biking.

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