Vol. 2026 No. 1 (2026): 2026 Continuous Issue
Articles

Fish Stinks at the Head: Selecting University Presidents for the AI Era

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  • Viktor Wang
Viktor Wang
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Published 2026-02-16 — Updated on 2026-02-16

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Keywords

  • Presidential leadership, Leadership misplacement, Shared governance, Psychological safety, AI governance

How to Cite

Wang, V. (2026). Fish Stinks at the Head: Selecting University Presidents for the AI Era. International Journal of AI in Pedagogy, Innovation, and Learning Futures, 2026(1). Retrieved from https://journals.calstate.edu/ijaipil/article/view/6944

Copyright (c) 2026 Viktor Wang

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This article proposes and analytically illustrates a presidential selection framework designed to reduce leadership misplacement and strengthen institutional learning capacity in the AI era. Using a theory-building analytic approach with structured document analysis, the paper examines presidential search signals, early-tenure leadership behaviors, and institutional indicators related to trust climate, shared governance functioning, and AI-era change readiness. The primary contribution is a practical, evidence-based Presidential Search Rubric that boards and search committees can apply to evaluate candidates using enacted evidence rather than prestige-only indicators.

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References

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