A Study of Academic Leaders in Two Large Alberta Universities

Abstract

We know practically nothing about academic leaders, though business leaders are well studied. This qualitative study looks in some detail at academic leadership in two large Western universities, through in depth interviews of a variety of highly successful academic leaders. It includes leaders of research in their disciplinary fields, leaders that are highly respected as outstanding teachers, and leaders that are highly respected as administrators. The study explores the academic and leadership practices of those respected academic leaders, and produces information on their leadership qualities. The analysis of the data obtained in the field established an emerging narrative about academic leadership in general, as well as new and interesting subjects related to the overall academic leadership subject. The resulting narrative also revealed evidence of positive human qualities in the academic leadership of the participants. If spirituality is to be understood as how the XIV Dalai Lama understands it, namely that qualities such as love, compassion, patience, kindness, tolerance, forgiveness and responsibility are the mark of a true spiritual person in a time, then the leaders studied in this work are all truly spiritual in nature.