| BY MIKE UNGER On this crisp October day, Neil Kerwin strolls into the Kay Spiritual Life Center with the air of a man walking through his front door. Kerwin, American University’s provost, has spent more than half his life on this campus. In its classrooms he’s both attended lectures and delivered them. For more than 30 winters, springs, summers, and falls, he’s admired the natural beauty of its quad. Monumental personal and professional milestones have been accomplished here. In 1970, he met his wife, Ann, here during their junior years. They’ve been married 32 years. For Kerwin, AU is home. Even in the most beloved and well-kempt houses, however, appliances once on the cutting edge of technology grow obsolete. Old paint peels, so fresh coats must be added. Change is necessary to keep even the most fertile of environments invigorated, and over the course of his three decades at AU, Kerwin’s brush strokes have impacted nearly every aspect of the university’s academic foundation, helping catapult an already-strong institution to heights it never before has reached. “From an educational standpoint, [AU] had a wonderful affect on me as an undergraduate, but this is a far better institution than it was 40 years ago,” Kerwin says. “The American University degree, my degree, is perceived to be better now than it was 30 years ago. My hope is that [current students’] degrees are perceived to be better in five years than they are today.” In June, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education reaccredited AU, culminating a two-year process in which the university examined virtually every aspect of its operations. The commission had high praise for the school, commending it on the quality of its self-study and the progress it has achieved over the past decade. This year’s U.S. News & World Report listing of America’s top national universities ranked AU 86th, the school’s highest-ever position. To some degree, the accolades validate Kerwin’s philosophies. “He has a core set of values that focus on the three things that are critical for making the place better,” says William LeoGrande, dean of the School of Public Affairs and a longtime Kerwin friend. “One is providing a really good teaching environment for our students and [two is] a nurturing environment for the faculty. Third, he has a belief in the public service mission of the university.” Friends and colleagues say Kerwin sets aggressive goals and goes about pursuing them in a serious but down-to-earth manner. On that day in October, Kerwin, who became AU’s chief academic officer in 1998, led a town hall–style budget forum, detailing to students, faculty, and staff the tough fiscal decisions he will help make in the coming months. The budgetary planning process, which is on a two-year cycle, is never the most copacetic of topics, but Kerwin managed to keep the mood light by injecting witticisms into the generally fact-filled discussion. The subject of increasing AU’s summer enrollment, always a challenge, came up. “We have missed our summer enrollment [goals] for each of the last 300 years,” he quipped. The line garnered chuckles from the audience, not the easiest of accomplishments in a budget meeting. Kerwin’s self-confidence and absolute belief in AU’s ideals affords him the luxury of throwing the occasional self-deprecating line into even the most staid of discussions. “He has a very dry, very subtle sense of humor,” says Vi Ettle, assistant provost for administration. “He tends to put a soft spin on very serious matters, particularly when it comes to the kind of day-to-day things we have to deal with in the operation. I think he focuses on the problems and looks at the lighter side of it.” Kerwin came to AU from New England in the late 1960s, the son of working-class parents, neither of whom went to college. “The transition from Waterbury, Connecticut, to Washington was dramatic for me, but I look back on it now and realize it was the single most important decision I made in my life,” he says. “In that sense, this university has not changed. [It] continues to change undergraduate students’ lives.” After arriving on campus, Kerwin never left, save for a brief stint at Johns Hopkins University, where in 1978 he earned a PhD in political science. He served as dean of SPA from 1987 to 1997 before being appointed acting provost. During his seven years in the post, Kerwin has worked tirelessly to recruit top professors and to reduce the number of adjunct faculty, with an eye toward strengthening the university’s academic mettle. “We have a superb faculty, deeply engaged in the life of the institution at a lot of different levels,” he says. “By all accounts they are extraordinary teachers. By what I know and see in this office on a daily basis, they’re scholars who are making enormous contributions to their respective fields. They support the institution in hundreds of ways.” The Middle States Commission agreed, writing that “faculty members are committed instructors both in and out of the classroom while they pursue impressive research and service agendas.” As provost, Kerwin is charged with making decisions—financial, professional, academic—that profoundly impact not only the direction of the university, but people’s lives. Case in point: The 2003 decision to eliminate five doctoral programs and eight master’s programs. He does not shy away from these choices regardless of how arduous they may be, judging each situation on a core set of principles. “I think at an institution like AU, you can boil an awful lot, at least on the academic side, down to two very simple questions,” he says. “Is the decision I’m about to make going to improve the quality of this faculty, and if it is not faculty related directly, the question is will this decision materially improve the quality of the education our students receive? “This is a very successful institution in many ways, but no institution does not have financial constraints, so you find yourself in the position of making tragic choices,” he says. “You know, the rewards vastly outweigh the tough spots. I have a group of fabulous colleagues. They are in many ways the linchpins of the academic administration. They are as a group extraordinary, they are as individuals extraordinary. I’ve also been very lucky to maintain a pretty active scholarly life of my own. I continue to write; I’m still deeply involved in the scholarship in my field. Fortunately the job has not been so consuming that I’ve had to leave that part of my life behind.” Despite the rigors of his career, Kerwin finds time to work out four times a week
—“religiously,” he says—and play the occasional round of golf. But he remains a scholar at heart, according to LeoGrande. “The thing that strikes me about him is that he’s been a provost or dean for the last 15 years, but he still thinks of himself as a member of the faculty.” Kerwin is supremely confident in the virtues of a demanding academic program. “When students tell me they need time off because of the stress associated with the academic program, it’s music to my ears,” he says. “I wish I believed it, but I like the song. To me, the hallmark of a good undergraduate education is the day you walk across that stage to get your degree, you’re relieved. “One of the great perks that I’ve got as provost, that the president and I share, is that we get to sit on a stage in June or May of every year and watch our graduation,” Kerwin says. “It’s an enormously gratifying experience. To hear what they’ve done, to hear what they’re about to do, and to know that this institution had a role in it, it’s very rewarding. top |
