After nearly 40 years as an AU student, professor, dean and most recently provost, Neil Kerwin is now serving the university as acting president and is actively working to continue growth and development plans for the school, as well as repair damaged relationships following a period of scandal and turmoil surrounding former President Benjamin Ladner.
Kerwin, who received his bachelor's degree from AU's School of Public Affairs in 1971, was appointed acting president in August of this year after the board of trustees placed Ladner on administrative leave because of allegations he had spent about $500,000 of university money on personal expenses, and was formally named acting president in October after the board announced Ladner would not return as president.
Kerwin could remain as acting president for up to two-and-a-half more years, as he board of trustees has postponed beginning the search for a new president until the end of the summer, and it could take up to two more years until Ladner's official replacement is named. Kerwin said that he "hasn't made a decision yet" on if he will apply to be AU's next permanent president, or even if he will stay at the university once the board names a new one. But, he said, "it will take a lot" for him to leave AU.
"I'm going to wait and see how things develop and get a sense of what I would like to do for what appears to be the next most productive years of my professional life," Kerwin said. "I am 56 years old now so I would expect the next 10 to 15 years that I will have the opportunity to have the greatest impact on wherever I am working and I want to be sure that I make the right decision for myself as much as the institution."
Kerwin said that the transition from provost to interim president was relatively easy because of the strong staff and administrators at AU, as well as his rapport those administrators and knowledge of the school.
"I just want to be very sure that I can take advantage of the things that I know about this university and communicate them to all the outside communities and parties that are interested."
Working for a new AU
Part of strengthening AU's communication with the public and student body, which has been a major rallying point and demand from students throughout the Ladner debacle, will involve AU's upcoming presentation to the Senate Finance Committee of all the documents related to Ladner's presidency, employment and removal, as well as the decision on his severance package, Kerwin said. Finance Committee chair Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, requested the full report as part of a larger investigation into non-profit institutions that take advantage of their tax-exempt status. Kerwin, along with the board of trustees, said AU would fully cooperate with the inquiry.
"I think that the report that we will provide will be absolutely to the point that they asked, and rigorously honest," he said. "But from the very outset of this inquiry, we have committed ourselves fully, and that is what we are going to do."
In addition to opening lines of communication, Kerwin said he plans on engaging students and handling more issues concerning student life, which students have complained Ladner did not make a point of doing during his presidency.
Despite the recent controversy and press attention, the university is still moving in a forward direction, Kerwin said.
"So much time and attention was focused in the press about the [former] president's situation and the controversy and the board of trustees, and it may be less apparent than it should be that this is a very strong university," he said.
To maintain AU's status as a strong university, Kerwin said he does not intend to postpone progress on fundraising and development programs for the university and also wants to continue the strategic 15-point plan implemented by Ladner. The plan, which includes expansion of the SIS building and a new building for the School of Communication, was often cited by Ladner supporters as an achievement of his presidency.
Some of Kerwin's other priorities are the reorganization of the board of trustees and examining whether AU has suffered from the incidents this year.
Kerwin is encouraging the board of trustees to redevelop their structure of governance and take a more active role in campus life.
He said he has already seen significant improvements, like having more meetings open to the AU community and making a plan to play a more active role with the president and his activities. Kerwin is also now a member of the board as an ex officio.
Kerwin removed himself from all discussions with the board of trustees about Ladner, and said he would not comment on whether he agreed with the amount of severance pay that Ladner received.
"I think we need to move beyond the issue with regard to Ben and his settlement and the president and the board of trustees as soon as we can," he said.
Some early signs of damage, he said, may be the small number of spring undergraduate enrollments but that it is still too early to tell.
"This next enrollment cycle will mean a great deal to me, and it will tell me a great deal also whether or not there has been any damage to the institution as a result of these incidents," Kerwin said.
Kerwin expects the school to continue with its progress, and hopes to maintain a strong student body.
He also wants to be more involved with hiring more faculty members and supporting the library.
Kerwin is a scholar in regulatory policy at the federal level and is the author of "Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy," a book of which he plans to write a new edition. He also co-authored another book, "How Washington Works: The Executives Guide to Government."
He received his Master's in political science from the University of Rhode Island in 1973 and his doctorate in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1978.
Dr. Kerwin lives with his wife, Anne, of 33 years whom he met at AU while she was studying art history. He has two sons; his eldest attended AU as an undergraduate and will be working as the Special Assistant for Policy and Communication for Baltimore mayor and Maryland gubernatorial candidate Martin O'Malley. His other son graduated from Tufts University and now lives in Los Angeles.
