Scientists Find Joy, Challenges In Academic Administration

Love of their institutions motivates many to make the transition from university laboratories to executive offices What's it like to be a medical school dean? Geneticist Leon E. Rosenberg, dean of Yale University's School of Medicine, describes the experience as sometimes elegantly harmonious, sometimes extraordinarily fast-paced--and rarely dull. "When I'm feeling serene," Rosenberg says, "I say that [the job] is sometimes like being a conductor of an orchestra: searching for the right sound

Barbara Spector

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Love of their institutions motivates many to make the transition from university laboratories to executive offices

What's it like to be a medical school dean? Geneticist Leon E. Rosenberg, dean of Yale University's School of Medicine, describes the experience as sometimes elegantly harmonious, sometimes extraordinarily fast-paced--and rarely dull.

"When I'm feeling serene," Rosenberg says, "I say that [the job] is sometimes like being a conductor of an orchestra: searching for the right sound with the right players. When I'm feeling oppressed, I say it's like being a chariot driver with four--or 40--extra-powerful horses running at top speed. It's exciting to be a chariot rider, but you never know if you're going to complete the ride."

While women in academia still have a hard time reaching the top of the administrative ladder, those trained in the sciences appear to have an even steeper climb. A 1988 study by the American Council ...

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