Many efforts have helped increase the number of women and ethnic minorities in college presidencies, but Asian Americans have not kept pace.

Dr. Rajib Sanyal carefully studied college presidents serving as panelists and speakers at the annual American Council on Education (ACE) conference earlier this semester. He paid attention not only to their words, but also their comportment. “Not a hair out of place; no clothing soiled,” recalls Sanyal, dean of Northern Michigan University’s College of Business. “A president has to appear positive in public and can’t get angry.”

The handful of Asian American university presidents around the country hope such observations and interest — along with increased mentoring — will help propel Sanyal and others in administrative ranks to the top jobs in academia.

Many efforts have helped increase the number of women and ethnic minorities in college presidencies the past two decades, but Asian Americans have not kept pace with other historically underrepresented demographics. In fact, Asian American presidents are barely replacing themselves on the national landscape as they retire. This fact appears even more stark when considering that Asian American faculty outnumber other minority instructors; meaning they clearly have an ample pool to produce executive leadership.

“It’s a main source of our pessimism,” says Dr. Leslie Wong, president of Northern Michigan, referring to sentiments among his counterparts of Asian descent. Wong was one of only five Asian Americans heading U.S. public universities in 2005, according to ACE. Wong and his counterparts continue to reach out to mentor Asian American faculty and mid-level administrators, hoping to form some semblance of a pipeline into the presidency, especially with early waves of baby boomers poised to retire in 2010.

The task of grooming is daunting, given that some of the most vocal advocates are no longer sitting presidents themselves. Dr. Roy Saigo and Dr. Bob Suzuki, who remain active as mentors, have retired from St. Cloud State University and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, respectively. Others are in advanced stages of their careers and could conceivably retire in a few years. Wong, for instance, has worked in higher education for more than 34 years.