The Leadership Issue

Adecade ago, college presidents were often seen as fund raisers in disguise, focused on generating new revenue amid growing skepticism about higher education’s value. That skepticism has since hardened into an aggressive reform agenda, with political threats to public funding now shaping the presidency itself. Today’s college leaders are political figures as much as executives, tasked with defending their institutions’ survival. This year’s Leadership Issue profiles three such presidents—Mun Choi, Bill Johnson, and Christopher Eisgruber—and explores how higher education might reclaim public trust through collective action that transcends institutional self-interest. You might call that naïve—or leadership.