Session: 1234567891011121314151617         Page 760761762763764765766767768769770771772773774775776777778779780781782783784785786787788789790791792793794795796797798799800801 of 824

candidate appeared who had been provost of the University of Pennsylvania, an historian, and it had been expected by students and faculty, and a part of the board of trustees that he would become president of the University of Pennsylvania. Well, I don't know exactly what happened, but I can guess. One trustee probably said to another, “I don't know that Philadelphia really should have an Armenian who doesn't even use articles as president of the university.” And, you know, that sort of went from one trustee to another. And he ended not getting the job. And he was pretty browned off, to put it mildly, and suddenly was in the market. And suddenly here was the man that I knew could do the job. Just sort of instinctively, I knew this was it. I said, “Okay, no more, let's end the search. Let's make sure we get the guy, for God's sakes.”

What appealed to you about him?

Well, he was obviously energetic. He had good academic credentials. He had proven that he was a good administrator, and I had a hunch that he was probably also a good salesman. And good with people. Because he must have been good with people if all those faculty wanted him to be president. And boy was I right! The first problem that comes up every time you try to get anybody from outside of New York, into New York, it's not salary, but housing. So we went around trying to find housing for him. And I forget how it all got out, but it got out that we were talking about spending five or six hundred thousand dollars to house the man, and a lot of people, of good will and bad judgment started screaming, “Well, how can an