Passing the gavel

An active and productive tenure as trustee president brought Walda many satisfactions

By Susan Williams

With new responsibilities as president of Association of Governing Boards of Universities, John Walda steps down as president of the IU Board of Trustees after seven years, though he will remain a member of the board. Today's report focuses on Walda’s tenure. The next issue (Sept. 28) will look at the new president, James Morris, and his goals for the board and IU.

Walda’s new demanding role as president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities, a national organization for trustees, made his resignation as IU trustee president inevitable. The trustees elected James T. Morris, a member elected by alumni in 1996, to fill Walda’s vacancy.

“Being on the board is the most stimulating experience I’ve ever had,” said Walda, “because it’s immediately rewarding. As trustees, we’re able to see the fruits of our labor, through interacting with the faculty, staff and students, through watching buildings go up, through seeing programs developed and seeing our president become nationally known in areas of leadership.”

A trustee since 1990 when he was appointed by the governor, Walda’s watch as president, a job he accepted in 1994, has been active and productive. He presided during tremendous technological growth, watching as IU moved from “nowhere” in the computer arena to become an international leader with Internet2 and the beginnings of the School of Informatics.

But while enabling the university to march in time with technology through the expenditure and solicitation of funding, the board of trustees also made preserving the historic integrity of the Bloomington campus a priority.

“The Bloomington campus is still architecturally intact,” said Walda. “There are great themes here that are played out even in the newest of our buildings. There are wonderful new projects going on in the School of Business, the new Theatre/Neal-Marshall Building and the soon-to-be new science building. I take great pride in what’s been accomplished through Terry Clapacs’ office and through our architects with the oversight of the board.”

But it is the formation of Clarian Health Partners, a merger between IU’s medical center hospitals in Indianapolis and Methodist hospitals, that Walda believes may be the most important outcome of the last 10 years.

“Academic health centers have become very difficult to manage financially all over the country, and many of them have been sold or have been closed or are operating with very large deficits,” Walda said. “We recognized about six years ago that we needed to restructure the ownership of our hospitals so that crisis would never occur here. This has been a remarkable success, and I think, in the long term, will be viewed as a very important contribution to Indiana University. It will be viewed, I think, in the nearer term, as a great asset for the School of Medicine as it becomes more renowned in a national way.”

As president, Walda’s major challenges were all about finding appropriate balances within the board itself and with the university administration. “First, there is making sure that the board, as a governing body, feels empowered, and that every member feels involved in the decision-making process,” he explained. “At the same time, the trustee president must keep the board in its proper role as a governing board as opposed to a management team. That is challenging on a day-to-day basis.

“The second big challenge, in my mind, is maintaining a real team approach to the governance of the university. By that I mean being in sync with the university president and with the president’s higher level staff. I’m fortunate in that I served with both Tom Ehrlich and Myles Brand, two extraordinary people to work with.”

Walda’s current term as trustee ends June 2002, but so long as he is reappointed, he intends to continue as a member of the board, for professional and personal fulfillment.

“It’s been like having another family,” said Walda of being a trustee. “I’ve made so many great friends at this university, people who really care for you, people who are involved in the same work that you’re in. IU is a haven for me, a place where I can fulfill my dreams.”

http://www.indiana.edu/~trustees/bios.html