University leadership: we need a new breed of turtle-neck

Academic, entrepreneur, politician, visionary – universities must find multi-faceted leaders to meet the diverse challenges of globalised higher education, says Abhinay Muthoo.
John Bryan Conant, the university president whose reforms of the 1930s and 40s made Harvard into a premier research institution, was fond of a remark that proved useful in his line of work: "Behold the turtle," he frequently said. "He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out."
Conant's words seem particularly resonant to university leaders now. Institutions of higher learning are being challenged as never before by many forces: the tough and uncertain economic climate, profound changes in funding, and unprecedented global competition for the best and brightest students and faculty.