'A steady hand on the tiller'

Lee Huntsman's hair was gray when he became the UW's interim president in 2002. His hair would have become that color anyway during the 19 months he's been the University's top official.

That's the way acting Provost David Thorud describes Huntsman's interaction with the UW's athletic department during the last 12 of those 19 months.

Huntsman was in charge when the UW fired Husky football coach Rick Neuheisel, when softball coach Teresa Wilson was reassigned and when Athletic Director Barbara Hedges began her early retirement.

More recently Huntsman said the University "failed" after the end of the investigation into the medical practices of William Scheyer, the former team physician for the softball team who improperly provided narcotic medications and other prescription drugs to student athletes.

"He just walked in and inherited that," said Thorud about Huntsman. "He's been a steady hand on the tiller."

Thorud is not alone in his assessment of the man who replaced Richard McCormick.

"I can't think of anyone who has a calming, steady influence and yet be active and not just sit back," said Jerry Grinstein, president of the UW Board of Regents.

Huntsman did not sit back in making decisions about the athletic department, Thorud said. He added that Huntsman based his decisions on studies and reviews he read and interviews he conducted.

"The Neuheisel thing got so much ink -- surprisingly, actually -- and then everything else got swept up and it sounded like the athletic department was in complete disarray," said Huntsman. "That has never been my diagnosis."

Diagnosis is an appropriate term for this bioengineering professor who's been on the UW faculty since 1968. One of Huntsman's well-known characteristics is diagramming complex situations on a whiteboard in his office, according to Dr. Paul Ramsey, dean of the School of Medicine.

Huntsman said he reacted differently to the problems in the athletic department than others did.

"The array of events has been, in blunt, magnified by some observers to suggest that athletics is in meltdown," he said, adding that he takes the department's issues seriously. "I don't want to deny the reality of the issues ... we've made a whole series of changes."

Huntsman will be one of the UW's representatives at the NCAA's hearing into the athletic department June 11 in Indianapolis. Grinstein described him as someone who people instinctively trust.

"He obviously was there during a troubled situation in the athletic department," he said. "If the University hadn't acted then, they would have been under a severe cloud with the NCAA."

One of the positives during Huntsman's short term as president was last winter's state legislative session, according to Thorud.

"He held the line on the budget," Grinstein said about Huntsman.

The University did not have to implement any budget cuts this year, Thorud said. He added that the UW received funding for new enrollments, research facilities and classroom improvement.

Other positives during Huntsman's term include the University approaching the halfway mark of a $2 billion fund-raising campaign for development and the popularity of a separate $40 million campaign.

Huntsman designed the latter of the two, which began this year, Thorud said. The campaign, which combines donations from the University with matching funds from donors, goes toward endowments for professors and department chairs and scholarships, among other areas.

Four executive search committees are part of the legacy Huntsman leaves behind. The committees will find candidates for dean of the Graduate School, chancellor of the UW-Tacoma campus, dean of the Business School and athletic director, all of whom will serve under incoming UW President Mark Emmert.

When Emmert takes office in mid-July, Huntsman will not return to his previous position as provost. His contract with the regents has him working as provost for administrative transition through November 2005. He can then return to the bioengineering faculty through September 2006.

Huntsman said he wants to see what his alternatives are after he leaves the president's office. One possibility he's considering in the short-term is taking a trip to San Diego on his BMW motorcycle.

"I'm not a Harley guy," he said. "I don't wear black leather. I wear a bright red synthetic jacket."

While Huntsman likens the president's position to any other job -- where, he said, 80 percent of it is spent dealing with problems -- he describes it as being in the "catbird seat," a perch from which he sees the activities of the campus.

"I get to see glimpses ... of what an institution like this does," Huntsman said. "That's a real privilege."

Huntsman enjoys the direct exposure to triumphs, especially student triumphs. He takes pleasure in calling recipients of student and staff awards and greeting UW students who win Rhodes, Goldwater, Marshall and Truman scholarships.

V. Lane Rawlins, president of Washington State University, recalled the 2002 Apple Cup as an experience he will remember most about Huntsman.

Although the Huskies defeated the Cougars 29-26 in triple overtime in Pullman, Rawlins will fondly remember the agreement the two schools made that weekend to not accept more students unless the state appropriates more money for enrollment.

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't have two presidents that really wanted to make it happen -- Lee Huntsman and Lane Rawlins," Thorud said.

Making such a statement about Huntsman's presidency did not seem likely in 1997, when Huntsman was a candidate for UW provost and said, "I can't quite imagine myself being president."

The regents removed the interim prefix from his title last November, making him a full president.

"The truth is that prefix didn't make much difference to me, and I don't think it made much more difference to the people around the central administration," said Huntsman. "They wanted to signal across campus and especially outside the campus that the University is not just in idle."

Rawlins said that although Huntsman's presidency was short, he was not just someone saving a place for Emmert.

"When they list who was the president at the University of Washington, I hope that they don't forget that he was the president," he said. "He wasn't just a placeholder."