Gillis plans to step down in mid-2004

Gillis plans to step down in mid-2004
Gives
Rice time for successor search before he returns to faculty
…………………………………………………………………

Consistent with
a leadership characterized by planning for the future, Malcolm
Gillis announced Wednesday that he will complete his term
as the sixth president of Rice University June 30, 2004.

“I have
said for over a decade that the optimum period for a university
president is 10 to 12 years,” Gillis said. “June
of 2004 will be exactly 11 years.

“I also
have often stressed that an incoming president should have
ample time to prepare for the job. By making an early announcement
of my decision, I hope to give the university time to find
my successor, and to give him or her such time to prepare
before taking office.”

William Barnett,
chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees, said such thinking
was much in keeping with the first nine and one-half years
of Gillis’ presidency.

“The strong
consensus of the board is that Malcolm’s tenure so
far has marked one of the most productive periods since
Rice opened in 1912,” Barnett said. “We completed
our first comprehensive strategic plan. We are near the
$415 million mark of our first comprehensive fund-raising
campaign. We are completing the largest building program
in Rice history.

“With all
those things coming to culmination, Rice will enter a new
cycle of planning for the next dozen years. We also will
have another leadership transition, as my term as board
chairman ends in the summer of 2005. Thus, it seemed appropriate
to Malcolm and me that the new leaders be in place to participate
in creating the plans they will be charged with carrying
out.”

The board chairman
said that a search committee that represents the entire
Rice community would be formed during the next semester.
The goal would be to name Rice’s next president by
the spring of 2004, allowing him or her to prepare for a
July 1 entry into office.

He also said
the Board of Trustees had planned ahead on another matter.
“The board was greatly pleased to offer Malcolm the
designation of University Professor,” Barnett said.
“This is the highest faculty designation we have —
one that has been awarded only three times before — and it allows the holder to teach in any Rice department.”

Gillis, expressing
gratitude for the honor, said that suited him perfectly.

“It would
be enough to resume my position as a full-time faculty member,”
he said. “I’ve always felt that was the best job
on Earth, and I have worked to maintain my faculty status
while serving as president of Rice by, among other things,
teaching and continuing to publish in my field — 10
papers in nine years.

“Now, I
have a whole inventory of research topics and materials
stacked up — including an economic history of technology
and a study of organizational effectiveness built around
some very specific issues. I also hope to be an independent
voice on future directions of higher education, nationally
and internationally.”

Barnett said
that Gillis would be granted a sabbatical year after he
steps down, something the demands of research and academic
leadership had prevented for all his 35 years as a faculty
member at three institutions. Gillis said it would be useful
in three ways.

“One, it
will allow me to retool for my teaching and research fields,
old and new,” he said. “Two, I’ve always
felt that a new president should have the chance to get
established without his or her predecessor hanging around.
Three, it will give me blessedly more time with Elizabeth.”

The Rice Board
of Trustees in 2000 recognized the contribution of Elizabeth
Gillis, Malcolm’s wife of four decades, by creating
in her name a university-wide award for exemplary service.

Gillis’ successor will have a long list of accomplishments to build
on, Barnett said.

“In addition
to the strategic plan, the campaign and the building program,”
Barnett said, “Malcolm guided an unprecedented period
of collaboration with other institutions; a deeper and more
fruitful involvement in the community; an enormous enhancement
of Rice’s international presence through such things
as the Baker Institute for Public Policy, study abroad and
International University Bremen; a successful effort to
maintain diversity under difficult circumstances; a very
substantial expansion of the faculty; a foresighted investment
in nano, bio, info and enviro science and technology; the
biggest expansion of humanities facilities ever; the first
addition to the college system in 30 years; the rise of
the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management; and on
and on.”

Gillis was born
Dec. 28, 1940, and earned his Ph.D. from the University
of Illinois in 1968. Before entering university leadership,
he spent the first 25 years of his professional life teaching
economics and applying economic analysis to public policy
in almost 20 countries, from the United States and Canada
to Ecuador, Colombia, Ghana and Indonesia. His research
and teaching have mainly been in the areas of fiscal economics
and environmental policy.

His first faculty
post was as an assistant professor of economics at Duke
University, followed by a 15-year stint at Harvard University.
He returned to Duke in 1984 as a professor of economics
and public policy, was awarded a distinguished named chair,
became dean of the graduate school and vice provost for
academic affairs, and then dean of the faculty of arts and
sciences. He came to Rice as president in July 1993, and
also is the Ervin Kenneth Zingler Professor of Economics. ronic structure
methods and their applications to fullerenes and other large
systems.