Introduction
Chapter 1: The College Presidency: Historical Background and Career
Path
Chapter 2: Higher Education and Columbia University in the Post War
Years
Chapter 3: The Military Leader
Chapter 4: In Command at Columbia: Leadership and Mission in Higher
Education
Chapter 5: The Presidential Selection Process at Columbia
University
Chapter 6: Carl Ackerman’s Conspiracy Theory
Chapter 7: Accomplishments and Historical Assessments
Chapter 8: Conclusion: Lessons for Higher Education Practitioners
Douglas E. Clark has more than 20 years of experience as an
executive-level administrator in higher education. He is a graduate
of the Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management at the
University of Pennsylvania, the Harvard Institute for Educational
Management (IEM), and the Sorensen Institute for Political
Leadership at the University of Virginia. He has taught courses in
management and government at Ferrum College, Mary Baldwin College,
and Virginia Western Community College.
Marybeth Gasman is professor of higher education at the University
of Pennsylvania and is editor of The History of U.S. Higher
Education: Methods for Understanding the Past.
Eisenhower in Command at Columbia shows how even successful leaders
operating in complex ways, using multiple strategies to suit
different emerging situations, can make missteps that create
unfortunate circumstances. Clark shows how successful leaders are
attuned to their contexts, operating within the culture and norms,
and attentive to key constituencies. The book provides a cautionary
tale for leaders to carefully understand institutional context, a
problem that plagued Eisenhower’s presidency at Columbia. Leaders
with humility, integrity, belief in the public good, and the
ability to listen can often prevail even when they come to
organizations and settings where they have little knowledge or
understanding, but the chances are much lower. Eisenhower’s tenure
at Columbia reveals that even the most capable leaders need to be
aware of context. We should heed the lessons from history offered
in this book, and apply them to our understanding of higher
education leadership going forward.
*Adrianna J. Kezar, University of Southern California*
Douglas Clark’s Eisenhower in Command at Columbia shows by example
that the history of higher education in the United States is for
the curious, not the faint hearted. Historian Clark has
rescued from neglect and institutional amnesia the unusual yet
important story of how a great national leader in one sphere (World
War II military) fared as a selected leader in another, wholly
different setting —the great American university. Far better
than a mystery novel, Clark’s archival research and oral histories,
combined with sound secondary sources for historical and national
context, brings a long needed spotlight to illuminate the
complexities of universities and their presidents. Best of
all, his over-arching interpretation of presidential candidates,
trustees, and university professors imbues his book with
significance for all contemporary universities in their questing
and sorting for leaders, past and present.
*John R. Thelin, University of Kentucky*
Douglas Clark has produced a clearly written and superb study of
the Eisenhower years at Columbia University. The strength
of Eisenhower in Command at Columbia is Clark’s brilliant
analysis of the difficulties that may occur when a military vision
of leadership encounters a highly charged academic environment. The
work also provides an insightful portrayal of American higher
education in the immediate postwar era. Scholars of both history
and education will enjoy the perspectives offered in this book.
*Daniel A. Métraux, Mary Baldwin University*
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