Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993 TAG: 9312140276
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Torgersen was named Thursday by Tech's Board of Visitors to succeed James R. McComas, whose resignation due to ill health shocked the campus earlier this fall. No other candidates were interviewed; indeed, the board named Torgersen even before the deadline for applications had been reached.
Despite such unusual circumstances, and in part because of them, the former engineering dean and two-time acting president is a wise choice for the post.
Curtailment of the national search for a new president could be open to the criticism that the board succumbed to Good Ol' Boy Syndrome - that is, a bias toward a familiar face at the expense of outside talent, when there ought to be a bias in neither direction.
Certainly, the chance to save $200,000 in search costs (from private university funds), and the avoidance of potential divisiveness, did not add up to sufficient warrant to call off the presidential headhunters. The former is a cost of doing business; the latter, if it were the central reason, a sign of risk-averse paralysis at a time when boldness is needed.
But Torgersen was a solid candidate. And this was an extraordinary situation, in the peculiarities of which can be found better reasons for the board's curtailment of the search:
The illness-forced suddenness of McComas' departure.
The board did not have the luxury of conducting the search for a new president while his or her predecessor was still in office. While lack of such overlap isn't uncommon, in this instance board members hadn't had time even to give informal, preliminary thought to the matter of the next president. The target date for completing a national search and naming a new president was April 24, 1994, but there was no guarantee it could be done by then.
The fragility of state finances.
Not only has the state's per-student aid to higher education been slashed; more cuts may come in the 1994-96 budget to be adopted at the upcoming assembly session. Uncertainty is heightened by the fact that a new governor will be inaugurated next month.
All this not only made more worrisome the prospect of a president-less university through the winter and spring. It also put more of a premium on finding a president who already knows well the university and the state - and, perhaps even more important, is in turn known and trusted by those who will influence budget decisions.
Above all, Torgersen's availability.
The first two considerations would make little difference if Torgersen didn't have the credentials. Nor would his age, though under the circumstances it's an asset: He's vigorous (reportedly an excellent tennis player), but not so young as to be tying Tech for years to a president selected without benefit of a national search.
He has the credentials; in a sense, he is the product of a national search. Five years ago, the Tech presidency that went to McComas, then president of the University of Toledo, almost went to Torgersen. That process, if dated, is not yet ancient history. Like McComas, he appears to reflect a blend of pragmatic flexibility with a firmness of purpose on basic principles such as academic quality and integrity.
As an academic, Torgersen's qualifications are excellent. As engineering dean for two decades, he headed what may be Tech's most academically prominent program. He is co-author of five books, a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
As a teacher, he has won awards for excellence in the classroom - an area getting more attention these days as Virginians evaluate the performance of their colleges and universities.
As an administrator, Torgersen has won high marks from colleagues for his work during the periods - including the more recent, from Oct. 1 until now - when he served as acting president.
He appears well-suited to providing the kind of higher-education leadership that this era requires, the kind that enlists everyone on campus in the effort to meet the mandate for change.
by CNB