Politicizing the Chancellor

When University System of Maryland Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan announced that he planned to retire, the state’s Board of Regents hired a firm to conduct a nationwide search to recruit a top-notch academic leader for what is and should be a plum post in American higher education. The firm forwarded the regents’ search committee 50 names, which the committee narrowed down to 30, then 20, then nine, who received interviews. A final three appeared before the full Board of Regents. They picked Robert Caret, a candidate who combines years of familiarity with the Maryland system — he served as president of Towson University, among other posts — but also perspective from other states, most recently in a similar job in Massachusetts.