Capital Man

Dreaming of a great university in the nation's capital, George Washington bequeathed fifty shares in the Potomac (Canal) Co. for just that purpose. The shares turned out to be worthless, and The George Washington University has yet to fulfill its patron's capital dream. But last week George Washington, after an 18-month culling of 130 candidates, picked a new president who yearns to do the job. He is Thomas Henry Carroll II, 46, vice president of the Ford Foundation, and holder of one of the most impressive resumes ever scrutinized by a college board of trustees.

Economist Carroll comes of a pioneering California family: one branch sailed around the Horn, the other crossed the continent by oxcart. At 25, he was both an assistant professor and an assistant dean at Harvard's business school. In World War II the Navy put him in charge of recruiting all officer candidates. At 32, he took on the deanship of Syracuse University's sagging business school. He remade the school, went on to do the same job at the University of North Carolina. In 1948 he was called on to help organize the $3 billion Ford Foundation. He has since disbursed some $50 million to jack up economic research on campuses across the world. His passionate interest: broadening management training, which he defines as "preparation for an uncertain future."

Carroll's future is clouded by George Washington's past. The red brick campus near Foggy Bottom has 11,000 students, a fine medical school, a superb location three blocks from the White House. But under the 32-year reign of President Cloyd H. Marvin, who resigned last year, George Washington never really took fire. It looks and acts like a commuter college, and two-thirds of its faculty (648) work part time. "We have a good university," says Board Chairman Newell W. Ellison, "but it isn't what it ought to be."

As 13th president, Carroll will teach economic development and tackle an ambitious plan to nearly double the university's physical size. First goal: housing a national law center, where diplomats of emerging nations may one day study democracy's rule of law. Other goals: more labs, classrooms, dormitories and scholarships to draw top students from all 50 states and the world. President-elect Car roll, who thinks that George Washington "would be well advised to elevate its admission standards," has more plans that "will mean an awful lot of work for everyone." His model is Harvard, and he wants it to be understood that "Washington is not Oshkosh."

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