New UM system president named
Published Jan. 25, 2008
Just a week after MU students wrapped up the fall semester, former Sprint Nextel chief executive Gary Forsee was officially named Elson Floyd's successor as UM system president.
Forsee will replace Interim UM system President Gordon Lamb Feb. 18.
Forsee has no previous experience in an academic role, but some said his involvement in corporate America is enough.
"I think the board was very interested in a candidate who had CEO-type experience," Presidential Search Advisory Committee chairman Frank Schmidt said. "I think the job of the president is very different from the job of a chancellor. He does have to interact with business and political leaders, and he does have a lot of experience with that."
The UM system Board of Curators unanimously chose Forsee after interviewing candidates and collecting opinions from the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, a 19-member group composed of professors, alumni representatives and student representatives.
Schmidt said the committee had little contact with the Board of Curators.
"We gave our opinions, and I assume they considered them," he said.
Although members of the advisory committee were asked to give guidance to the Board of Curators, UM-Kansas City professor and advisory committee member Joan Dean said the process was not what she expected.
"We were simply asked for an opinion," she said. "There was no discussion among the committee members, and they don't know how we felt about it, how I felt about it."
Forsee is a graduate of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, formerly UM-Rolla, and a member of the school's Board of Trustees. He is also a chairman of The Missouri 100, a board Lamb created to advise the system president.
MU computer system administrator and advisory committee member Alan Marshall said he is cautiously optimistic about the board's choice.
"I think he has all the tools he needs," he said. "He could be a great president. It will be interesting to see how he handles an education environment as opposed to a business environment."
Schmidt said Forsee probably won't make radical changes immediately after he assumes the position.
"He's going to spend some time learning what the job is about," Schmidt said.
But those who have known him for a number of years said Forsee should adjust quickly.
"He's always been very energetic, talented, a problem solver," said Jay Bayless, interim chairman of the department of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at MST, who taught Forsee when he was a student there. "When he was a student here, he was one other students looked up to for leadership. He's carried it into his professional career."
MU history professor Kerby Miller said he was concerned about Forsee's performance as a Sprint executive. Miller said he had spent hours researching Forsee's record.
"When I heard he was going to be appointed, I came up with all kinds of stuff," he said.
Forsee resigned from his position under pressure from the Sprint Nextel board of directors in October 2007. The company faced a shrinking customer base and low earnings, according to Associated Press reports.
Miller said he was concerned about the company's role in government monitoring of U.S. citizens' communications.
But others said his performance at Sprint showed he would be a successful system president.
"He does have the interest of the university and the state at heart," Dean said. "He was very conscious of being a community partner when he was the CEO of Sprint."
Marshall said that regardless of Forsee's history with Sprint, his presidency can only mean good things for the UM system.
"We have a university president right now that a lot of businesses would like to have running their business," Marshall said. "Let's give him a shot."