Need For Leadership

I enjoyed Leon Lederman's Opinion essay in the Jan. 23, 1995, issue of The Scientist: "Memo to Research University Presidents" [page 12].

Warren Bennis, whose books include Why Leaders Can't Lead (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1989), has said, "I can't remember the last time any university president addressed any problems beyond his or her own campus. Universities have changed, and so have university presidents."

W. Honan, in an editorial in the New York Times (July 24, 1994), wrote: "Today almost no college or university president has spoken out significantly about Bosnia, Haiti, North Korea, health care, welfare reforms, the attack on the National Endowment for the Arts, or dozens of other issues high on the national agenda."

I feel strongly that universities must provide much of the vision, the problem-solving expertise, and even the conscience of society, and that responsibility should be expressed and endorsed by presidents or chancellors....