Big Man on Campus: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Education

I can't wait to read this book. With the imprimatur of Doris Kearns Goodwin and Alan Dershowitz, it's a can't-miss!

What do Cal Ripken, Houdini, Edison, J. Pierpont Morgan, Churchill, Bismarck and Job have in common? Their qualities, combined, are what Steve Trachtenberg tells us are essential equipment for a university president. He shows why this is so in a book filled with wisdom, humor and numerous ideas about what university education means, needs, and gives back to students, their parents, and society. It's a graceful and fascinating work about one of our greatest American institutions. Particularly enjoyable are the autobiographical elements of Trachtenberg's upbringing and experiences, which are skillfully interwoven with his discussion of the figures and problems, joys and perplexities of university life and governance. His candor about himself, and his insights into the basic issues faced by universities, give this book an authenticity and reach that will make reading it a valuable and memorable experience. For parents who want to know for what they're paying a university, for students who want to know why they should spend important years of their lives there, and for everyone who wants an authentic view of what a university is like from the inside, and also to learn from and be amused by encounters of an interesting person with the world, this is a splendid book. Katharyn and Stanley Reiser

This is one of the most outstanding volumes on higher education I have read in quite some time. Dr. Trachtenberg's perspectives from his years in the business are quite enlightening. I highly recommend this highly readable and entertaining book.