Reveling in Retirement
After two college presidencies, Dr. James Hefner is taking time to pursue his avocations, while still in demand within academia.
The average college president’s tenure lasts around five years. In 2005, Dr. James Hefner had served more than four times that long in the position: seven years as the president of Jackson State University and 14 years as the president of Tennessee State University. He accomplished a great deal in those years.
“I loved the challenge of moving my institution from one point to another. I had always put a premium on recruiting the best and the brightest students because I always felt it was important to serve all students but to also have that critical mass of exceptional students for the others to look up to and aspire to — and I had been successful at that,” Hefner recalls.
Over his 14-year tenure at Tennessee, Hefner also oversaw a complex and ambitious building program: eight new buildings and the renovation of all the old buildings on the main and downtown campuses. He raised millions of dollars for these projects and pushed for the establishment of new Ph.D. programs, too, all the while managing to eat lunch with the students in the campus cafeteria at least twice a month.
And the university and the Nashville community seemed to appreciate his efforts. After the retirement announcement, a Nashville city councilwoman, Carole Baldwin, threw the search process a curve ball by declaring her intention to nominate Hefner to succeed himself.
But, while no doubt flattered by the “save Hefner” campaign, the president remained resolute on the challenge that lay before him: after a decades-long tenure at the pinnacle of university leadership, he needed to create a second act. What was the life he really wanted now?
