Director

The Inquirer profiles new Drexel Provost Steve Director today. His professional pedigree is solid - he was Dean of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon and then Michigan, two schools Drexel could learn from. Everything I've heard from and about this guy seems to suggest that Drexel is on the way to being smart about respecting its strengths while adding some academic heft and earnestly trying to broaden its scope (in recruitment and promotion) beyond this region, creating a true national university (in more than name only -- note the emphasis on both words). Not unlike the city in which it's located, it seems that an outsider might be better able to appreciate the facets that are dismissed by those overly familiar with Drexel's past.