By: Geoff Brown

IN NOVEMBER 5, 1996, THE U- M Board of Regents announced that they had selected the 12th President of the University, Dartmouth College Provost Lee Bollinger.

Bollinger is no stranger to the University -- he served as the Dean of U- M's Law School from 1987- 1994, and prior to that was a professor in the Law School.

Bollinger's selection followed a long, complicated search process that at times was plagued with controversy. Following several months of deliberations and public forums held by the Presidential Search Advisory Committee (PSAC), a list of finalists was presented to the Regents. This list included Bollinger, Carol Christ of UC- Berkley, Stanley Chodorow of the University of Pennsylvania, and Larry Faulkner of the University of Illinois. The Regents had originally intended to interview the candidates in private meetings until a lawsuit was filed by the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, and the Ann Arbor News which resulted in the meetings being opened. Following several days of interviews and meetings, which became very emotional at times, the Regents voted unanimously to select Bollinger. Details of the selection have yet to be worked out, such as a contract and the date when Bollinger will take over the office of the president from Interim President Homer Neal. MR