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David re: David
WHEN DAVID RUBENSTEIN, the founder and CEO of The Carlyle Group and a well-known philanthropist, made the anchor gift to fund a new conference building on the campus of the University of Chicago, he assumed that would be the end of his involvement with the project. Typically, he said, once donors write a check, “they’re not heard from again until the groundbreaking.”
But David Fithian had other ideas. As executive vice president at the University of Chicago, Fithian was in charge of every detail surrounding the planning and construction of the David Rubenstein Forum, and he was intent on ensuring that the building’s namesake was apprised and consulted every step of the way. “David was meticulous in asking for my views, even though I did not have a lot of expertise in these things,” Rubenstein recalled. “He wanted to make this a crown jewel, and he did — it turned out to be a spectacular building, with everything designed to the nth degree because David worked tirelessly and relentlessly with the architects. He did it all. “I talked to other people at the University of Chicago and asked if David is always this detail-oriented, this conscious of other people’s feelings, this focused on making certain everything is perfect. The answer was — yes. This is the way he is in everything he does. And I said, ‘This is a person who is going be very hard to hold at the University of Chicago. He’s clearly going to be a university president.’”
Rubenstein asserts that our system of higher education is the foundational influence that has shaped the United States into “the most important country in the world.” He has served 45 combined years on four university boards — Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Duke and Chicago, where he earned his undergraduate and law degrees, respectively — and has seen strong leaders make the kind of sound and visionary decisions that have brought distinction to those institutions in both good and difficult times.
“When you have a great leader what you want are the kind of qualities I think you see in David,” he said. “Great leaders are people who know how to articulate what they want to do. They know how to communicate with people; they know how to share the credit; they know how to persist and how to rise to the occasion when there’s a crisis. They know how to be highly ethical, and how to be role models. These are things great leaders do, and that great university presidents do.
“[Chicago President Emeritus] Bob Zimmer was a great role model for David, because David, as executive vice president, helped transform Chicago from a very good school to an extraordinary national university, better than it had ever been before.”
When Fithian was considering returning to Clark as its 10th president, Rubenstein counseled him about the singular opportunity it represented.
“I talked to David and said, ‘Nothing is greater in life than going back to your alma mater, because your alma mater is the place where you were formed as an adult,’” he said. “If Clark is as important to you as I think it is, as Duke was to me, as Chicago was to me, this is going to be the great pleasure of your life. While Chicago would greatly miss you, you have the opportunity of a lifetime.”
An avid student of history, Rubenstein has channeled much of his philanthropy into restoring precious national monuments and artifacts, including the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. He was also instrumental in leading the establishment of the African American Museum of History and Culture. Were the U.S. to hold a second Constitutional Convention to consider a new path forward for the nation, he said, university presidents, like David Fithian, would be at the forefront of those who serve because of their ability to manage through complex challenges to accomplish important things.
“He’s a leader,” Rubenstein said. “He’s committed, has a great intellect, great skill, and courage.
“Clark has chosen a very good person to be its president.”
David Rubenstein’s quotes are adapted from his remarks delivered at the Inauguration Ceremony of David B. Fithian, and from an earlier interview with Clark editor Jim Keogh.
