CHAPTER ONE: Preamble and Context 1
CHAPTER TWO: Governing 7
The Trustees and the Resident Campus Community 8
Consultation and Decision-making on Campus 16
The ROTC Debate as an Illustrative Case of Shared Governance 21
CHAPTER THREE: Administering 24
Building an Effective Administrative Team 24
Structuring Interactions 30
Compensation--for Administrators and for the President 32
CHAPTER FOUR: The University in Society: "At a Slight Angle to the Universe" 35
Basic Principles 35
The Proposed Boycott of J. P. Stevens 42
Divestment and South Africa 44
Freedom to Speak--and to Hear 46
Handling Dissent and Invoking Discipline 53
CHAPTER FIVE: Setting Academic Priorities: Annual Budgeting 59
Process 59
Principles 61
CHAPTER SIX: Setting Academic Priorities: Strategic Decisions 66
Coeducation 67
Investing in the Life Sciences 73
Graduate Education and Professional Schools 76
Strategic Decision-making in General 81
CHAPTER SEVEN: Building the Faculty 84
Recruiting and Retaining Faculty 84
Reviewing Tenure Recommendations and Salary Proposals 91
Faculty Diversity 95
CHAPTER EIGHT: Undergraduates: Admissions, Financial Aid, and Inclusiveness 98
Diversity and Financial Aid 99
Affi rmative Action and Race 101
Socioeconomic Status 106
Athletic Recruitment 109
Religious Divides: Jewish Students 112
Residential Life 115
CHAPTER NINE: Fund-Raising and Alumni Relations 119
Knowing Your Needs--and Your Donors 120
The Robertson Foundation Saga 124
Alumni Relations in General 127
Contending with Hostile Groups 129
CHAPTER TEN: Life in a President's Offi ce--and When to Leave 133
Partners, Colleagues, and Friends 133
Deciding What Not to Do as Well as What to Do 136
On Leaving 140
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Epilogue: Why Colleges and Universities Matter So Much 144
Acknowledgments 149
References 155
Index 161

An insider's account of higher education from a legendary university leader
Lessons Learned gives unprecedented access to the university president's office, providing a unique set of reflections on the challenges involved in leading both research universities and liberal arts colleges. In this landmark book, William Bowen, former president of Princeton University and of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and coauthor of the acclaimed bestseller The Shape of the River, takes readers behind closed faculty-room doors to discuss how today's colleges and universities serve their age-old missions.
With extraordinary candor, clarity, and good humor, Bowen shares the sometimes-hard lessons he learned about working with trustees, faculty, and campus groups; building an effective administrative team; deciding when to speak out on big issues and when to insist on institutional restraint; managing dissent; cultivating alumni and raising funds; setting academic priorities; fostering inclusiveness; eventually deciding when and how to leave the president's office; and much more. Drawing on more than four decades of experience, Bowen demonstrates how his greatest lessons often arose from the missteps he made along the way, and how, when it comes to university governance, there are important general principles but often no single right answer.
Full of compelling stories, insights, and practical wisdom, Lessons Learned frames the questions that leaders of higher education will continue to confront at a complex moment in history.

William G. Bowen is president emeritus of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Princeton University. His many books include the acclaimed bestseller The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions and Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities (both Princeton).