Since the search committee evaluating candidates to succeed Judith Rodin as President is taking suggestions, we thought we would help them out by asking people who they thought should be Penn’s next president.

We were surprised, to put it mildly, at how reluctant people were to recommend anyone. It’s not like the job is all that difficult—you just have to manage an institution with a $3.5-billion-a-year budget.

Those of you who did go so far as to offer an actual candidate, though, had some serious suggestions.

GARY CLINTON
Assistant Dean, Student Affairs, Penn Law School
“Somebody’s got to have awfully big feet. Somebody without a lot of fear of working after a giant. You need somebody of tremendous strength with a winning personality.”

ROBIN HARRIS
Assistant Registrar, Penn Law School
“Clifford Stanley [Executive Vice President]. Everything that I’ve read from him seems to be interesting – and the fact that he’s African-American – I don’t think the University has ever had an African American President.”

GLORIA WATTS
Registrar, Penn Law School
“John Fry [former Executive Vice President]. The academic qualifications that they look for in a President, he certainly has.”

DENNIS DISBROW
Director of 50th Reunion Program, Associate Director of Penn Fund
“Dr. Barchi [Provost Robert Barchi]. I’ve dealt with him an awful lot. Not Bill Clinton! Outside the University, [New York Yankees owner] George Steinbrenner. … It’s hard to replace Dr. Rodin.”

ERICA GELSER
Director of Programs in Universities, Communities of Faith, Schools and Neighborhood Organizations (PUCFSN)
“A smart woman from the humanities.”

SHAHAEDAH SAALIM
Administrative Coordinator, Center for Community Partnerships
“We definitely need someone that’s ready, willing and able to move into the future. The way the University is headed…towards community service.”

YVONNE KLINE
Office Administration Assistant, Department of Chemistry
“Bring Hackney [former Penn President Sheldon Hackney Hon’93] back. I think he did more for the employees. He believed if you had a satisfied employee, you had a satisfied company.”

CYNTHIA ARMOUR
Executive Assistant, Wharton Graduate Division
“Amy Orlov, director of the Wharton MBA Program. They call her the ‘queen of Wharton.’ Her next logical step is to become queen of the University. And she doesn’t need a microphone to be heard.”

— Heather A. Davis and Jamal Shareef