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Time Magazine Names Four BHEF Members As Top Education Leaders

Gee is Named Number-One University President, with Crow, Padron and Yudof Rounding out the List

Washington, DC (November 16, 2009) — Time magazine ranked the nation’s top 10 college presidents in its November 11 issue, with The Ohio State University President and Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) member E. Gordon Gee coming out on top.

Arizona State University President Michael Crow was ranked fourth, Miami Dade College President Eduardo J. Padron was ranked eighth, and University of California President Mark G. Yudof was ranked tenth.

“We are proud, but not surprised, that several BHEF members top this elite list of university and college leaders,” says BHEF Executive Director Brian K. Fitzgerald. “Our distinguished membership, comprised of an extraordinary coalition of corporate, academic, and foundation members, work together to advance innovative solutions to our nation’s education challenges in order to enhance U.S. competitiveness. It’s good to see Time recognizing their efforts.”

In its “Big Man on Campus” article by David Von Drehle, the magazine calls Gee “one of the most experienced university executives in the U.S.” and notes that he is “campaigning for a revolution in higher education at a time when the field is more important, and perhaps more troubled, than ever before.”

“[Ohio State] is a very big, very powerful organization. Gordon understands the potential influence his job entails. Most university presidents are focused on internal issues — the tug-of-war among faculty, students and alums — and they don’t have the bandwidth to see how extensive their influence should be,” the article quotes chairman and CEO of the Limited Brands corporation Leslie Wexner, who chairs the university’s board of trustees,  as saying.

Time cited Crow for his work in matching excellence and access in the same institution. During his tenure, the university has more than doubled its yearly research spending, boosted its roster of National Merit Scholars by 61 percent and claimed a spot on three separate rankings of America’s best colleges. Also, the number of low-income Arizona freshmen enrolling each year has grown nearly nine-fold and the population of minority students has jumped 62 percent.

Padrón was honored for his work in revolutionizing the role of two-year community colleges in the United States, “raising their academic stature while preserving their mission to teach underserved populations.” Miami Dade (enrollment 170,000) now offers honors programs and four-year degrees and enrolls and graduates more minorities than any other college in the country.

The Time articles credits Yudof with “tool[ing] around dilapidated campuses and fix[ing] them.” After coming on board at UC last year, Yudof rolled out a plan that provides grants to cover all the tuition for California residents with financial need whose family income is less than $60,000, and he is about to extend eligibility to students whose families make less than $70,000. So far, 48,000 of UC’s 230,000 students are covered by Yudof's new plan.

Read the article at http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1937938_1937934,00.html

About the Business-Higher Education Forum

BHEF brings together an extraordinary coalition of corporate, academic, and foundation members to advance innovative solutions to our nation's education challenges in order to enhance U.S. competitiveness. BHEF’s executive committee includes numerous nationally recognized corporate and higher education executives who provide leadership in education, nationally and locally

To learn more, visit BHEF’s Web site at www.bhef.com or read our publications.