Mary Sue Coleman was chosen the University of Michigan’s 19th president - the first female to hold the post - Wednesday.
But those who hired her say her résumé is more impressive than her gender.
“Certainly, gender didn’t play into my decision,” said U-M Regent Dan Horning.
“I think it’s wonderful she’s become the first female, but we did not set out to find a female president.”
The decision to hire Coleman culminated a five-month search after Lee Bollinger resigned from the U-M presidency to take the chief executive spot at Columbia University.
The 16-member search committee, which included two U-M students, narrowed down the field of the more than 200 applicants before U-M’s Board of Regents began its decision process.
The vote to elect Coleman was unanimous, 8-0.
“She certainly stood out,” Horning said. “Her academic record speaks for itself.”
Coleman is currently the president of the University of Iowa. Her term at U-M begins on Aug. 1.
She currently serves on several national committees and boards, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the American Council of Education.
U-M senior Matt Nolan, a member of the search committee, said Coleman is the right person for the school’s top job.
“I think Michigan will do well under her,” he said. “Will we miss Bollinger? Yes. But does that mean we won’t do great things under other people? No.”
MSU President M. Peter McPherson said he looks forward to working with Coleman as his Ann Arbor neighbor. He worked with her briefly while she was at Iowa, which also is in the Big Ten conference.
“She’s an impressive person,” he said.
Coleman crossed the gender gap once before when she became Iowa’s first female president.
“It was irrelevant from her perspective,” said David Skorton, Iowa’s vice president for research and external relations.
“I’m very happy for her that she’s got a chance at such a prestigious school. I’ll miss the combination of her being consultative and communicating so well, and, at the same time being so decisive. She manages to do that.”
MSU has yet to have a female president. McPherson is the school’s 19th chief executive.
MSU Trustee Dorothy Gonzales said time was overdue for U-M’s first female president.
“Really, why should we be surprised?” she said. “Women can do these things if we open the door to them.”
McPherson said he hopes and expects the good relationship he had with Bollinger will continue with Coleman.
The two schools have recently collaborated on projects such as the Life Sciences Corridor, which was created in 1999 and uses money from Michigan’s tobacco settlement to link biotechnology research of MSU, U-M, Wayne State University and the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Amy Bartner can be reached at bartnera@msu.edu.
