For the past two years, I have been empirically examining the question: should top universities be led by top scholars? I have looked at leaders of 100 global universities and deans of 140 business schools, and found that the best universities and business schools are led by good scholars.
I recently completed a longitudinal study of 55 UK research universities over three research assessment exercises. And, contrary to the assumption made by David Allen that we need more non-academics running our universities, there is statistical evidence that a university that is led by a good scholar will improve its performance in the future.
Amanda H. Goodall
Warwick University Business School