Chapter 12: A Search for a New President; Working with John Mendelsohn

Dr. Becker begins the next section with comments on the search for the new president, John Mendelsohn, and Charles LeMaistre\u27s retirement. He describes how the search process worked, lists Dr. Mendelsohn\u27s credentials, and notes that he could be considered the first outsider to be selected as president. He notes the particular value of Dr. Mendelsohn\u27s experience with business in creating what he calls The New Anderson, with a corporate structure. He recalls that by 1998, two years in to Dr. Mendelsohn\u27s presidency, he was wearing out as an administrator. He describes his role as Special Advisor to the President when he stepped down as Vice President of Research. Among other initiatives, Dr. Becker worked on developing CORE grants, sat in on the External Advisory Board, and saw through construction projects initiated while he was Vice President. Once Dr. Mendelsohn had his own support system in place, Dr. Becker stepped away, eventually giving up all administrative responsibilities and taking a faculty position without pay.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1432/thumbnail.jp