Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Freund envisions more diverse UA

LA MONICA EVERETT-HAYNES

Tucson Citizen

Putting her track record aside, the most notable aspect of Deborah A. Freund is her style of inclusion.

Speaking at public meetings yesterday for the first time since being named a finalist for the University of Arizona presidency, Freund drew her audiences into circles whenever possible.

"Unless we're going to dance in a ballroom, it should be a conversation," said Freund, 53, vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at New York's Syracuse University.

The same goes for her governance and decision-making.

Quick look at UA presidential hopefuls: Tom Campbell Deborah Freund Yash P. Gupta Robert N. Shelton

"I'm not afraid of anything," Freund said. "I've been involved in unpleasant decisions, but my preferred approach is to listen and use cross-functional teams."

Freund is the third finalist to visit Tucson for public meetings.

Robert N. Shelton, executive vice chancellor, provost and professor of physics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was on campus Friday.

Tom Campbell, dean and professor at the University of California-Berkeley's Haas School of Business, was here Monday.

The finalist picked to succeed Peter Likins as UA president after his June 30 retirement may be announced Friday.

If chosen, Freund said she would not come with her own specified vision, but acknowledges she would have leverage in a number of areas.

Fundraising, increasing the number of endowed faculty chairs and finding corporate partners for the UA College of Medicine's Phoenix campus are among her incentives.

"I'm ready to throw my own connections and my own expertise into (the expansion)," the widely known health economist said. "I know the questions, the concerns and many of the players."

But these aren't her only concerns.

"I may look to you like an economist on paper, but I am very much an interdisciplinary person," Freund said.

She wants to see more women and minorities teaching at UA and studying the sciences.

"I am tired of hearing that we can't find qualified people of color," she said. "We can."

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