Editorial: Right man for the job

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 | 9:13 a.m.

Last week Jane Nichols, the chancellor of the University and Community College System of Nevada, announced that she was resigning for health reasons. Nichols deserves credit for leading the university system during a rapid period of growth, but lately it has been an extraordinarily wrenching time for higher education in Nevada. The past year in particular has been marred by poor decisions and infighting by university system administrators and the Board of Regents.

The next chancellor, then, will have to be an exceptionally strong individual who also has the kind of vision to put the state's university system back on track. Last week the Board of Regents started to gear up for a national search to replace Nichols, but we don't think that's necessary. An individual who has indicated he's willing to take the job, business leader and philanthropist James Rogers, would be the ideal selection as chancellor. Many Las Vegans know Rogers as the owner of KVBC-TV, the local NBC television affiliate, which is part of a group of 16 stations that make up Rogers' Sunbelt Communications. But he's much more than a media executive.

Rogers, who holds a law degree from the University of Arizona and an advanced law degree from the University of Southern California, has been passionate in his devotion to higher education, serving as a trustee of a number of universities across the nation. Rogers, whom Time magazine listed in 2002 as one of the top 12 philanthropists in the United States, has spent much of his time the past few years helping raise funds for academic programs at more than 10 colleges and universities. He has pledged $28.5 million to the law school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and he and his wife have pledged $115 million to the University of Arizona law school, which bears his name.

The situation reminds us in some ways of when Kenny Guinn, now governor but then a business executive, took over as the interim president of UNLV for the 1994-95 school year, following a tumultuous period at the university. Rogers, a 1956 graduate of Las Vegas High School, would be ready to go to work right away and wouldn't have to be taught the lay of the land. Rogers' love of higher education and his continuous push for excellence in everything he does, a quality that has helped make his businesses a success, would be just the spark that Nevada's university system could use. Rogers doesn't need the job or the salary that goes with it. Indeed, that Rogers would be willing to offer his talents -- and put up with the long hours and stress that will go with the job -- is all the more reason why the Board of Regents should move as soon as possible to take Ro gers up on his offer.