A decade into his role as chancellor, Zeppos has no plans to slow 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās rapid progressāand he wants to bring the rest of higher education along for the ride.
By Ryan Underwood, BA’96
Sitting down recently to reflect on his 10-year anniversary as 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās chancellor, is quick to credit others, almost to a fault, when asked to describe various accomplishments.
Rankings are higher than theyāve ever been? Thatās because the admissions and financial aid teams are so effective.
The successful split from 91ĢĘ²®»¢ University Medical Center? The and VUMC worked with the universityās finance office to make that happen.
91ĢĘ²®»¢ is attracting more faculty and researchers from top universities around the world? The provostās office is doing a great job.
āIām coach. I canāt play. I just put people in the game,ā Zeppos says. āI always joke that, more than being chancellor, Iām really just a good HR person. I hire great people.ā
Yet, thereās one area where Zeppos doesnāt hesitate to offer a full-throated boast: As a student, he always was at the top of his class. āI wasnāt a perfect kid,ā Zeppos hedges. āBut I was always a really good student.ā
Perhaps thatās because he wasnāt interested in ice fishing or cross-country skiing and instead endured the long winters growing up in Milwaukee by reading whatever he could get his hands on. Or maybe he was inspired by his maternal grandfather, a hardworking but poorly educated Greek immigrant who brought his family to the U.S. seeking greater opportunities.
āThere were six grandkids in my family, three boys and three girls. My grandfather always told us we were going to college and he would pay for it however he could,ā Zeppos recalls. āI just took it for granted.ā
Whatever it was, those early experiences helped shape a university leader who today is a passionate believer in the transformative power of higher education. Zeppos thrives in the day-to-day minutiae of running 91ĢĘ²®»¢, all in a relentless push to make the university better than it was a year ago, a month ago, or even just a week ago.
āNick would like to build 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās reputation to a level where weāre second to none,ā says 91ĢĘ²®»¢ Board of Trust Chairman Bruce Evans, BEā81, a former managing director and now chairman of Summit Partners in Boston. āWhat drives Nick is a motivation to build and enhance 91ĢĘ²®»¢ into much more than it was when he got here.ā
Itās not (only) bragging rights that Zeppos is after. Rather, he truly believes that the more educational opportunities an institution can pack ināfor students, for faculty, for the communityāthe more a university like 91ĢĘ²®»¢ becomes an effective tool for making the world a better place. Thatās something heās experienced personally.
āWhy do I have a good job? Not just as chancellor, but why did I have a good job as a lawyer? Why was I able to have high-quality health care or have my kids educated or own a home? It was all because of education,ā Zeppos marvels. āEducation is the ultimate vaccine. If you give people education, they usually have a job, health care, a place to live. Theyāre able to provide for their families. Itās not perfect, but itās as good as you can get. That idea resonates with my own narrative: How is it that I could be a college professorānow chancellorāand my grandparents came to this country not speaking English?ā
THE PATH TO KIRKLAND HALL
Zeppos officially assumed the title of 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās eighth chancellor on March 1, 2008, though his early path to the job was hardly preordained.
Starting out as a math major at the University of WisconsināMadison, Zeppos eventually gravitated toward history, particularly legal history. He thought about pursuing a Ph.D. and becoming a history professor, but then turned his sights to law school. He continued at the University of Wisconsin, earning his J.D., magna cum laude, in 1979 and serving as editor-in-chief of the law review.
Zeppos began his legal career at the prestigious law firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) in Washington, D.C., and later joined the U.S. Department of Justice. āI liked practicing law. My cases were getting more complex and interestingāeach one was like a law exam,ā he says. āIt was a lot of cutting-edge stuff.ā
By 1986, however, he and his wife, Lydia Howarth, were expecting their first child and asked themselves if they really wanted to settle in Washington.
After a bit of soul searching, Zeppos says he returned to the idea of being a college professor and put himself on the academic job market. 91ĢĘ²®»¢ Law School approached him, and by the time he returned from a campus visit, he was sold. āI remember telling Lydia that Iād never met so many smart people who were also really nice,ā Zeppos says. Plus, Nashville offered an ideal blend of urban amenities coupled with the campus atmosphere one might find in a small college town.
Just before Christmas, 91ĢĘ²®»¢ extended Zeppos an offer and he accepted right away. āNo hesitation,ā he says.
A specialist in administrative law, Zeppos quickly made his presence known on campus. His classroom style blended a lively humor with analytical rigor, earning him five teaching awards. Within a few years of arriving at 91ĢĘ²®»¢, he was tapped to serve as associate dean of the law school. It was during this time that his wide-ranging curiosity prompted him to look at what was happening across the rest of the institution.
Education is the ultimate vaccine. How is it that I could be a college professorānow chancellorāand my grandparents came to this country not speaking English?
āI was teaching law, and then all of a sudden I saw that there was this whole university committed to educating nurses and doctors and ministers and undergraduatesāpeople who were going to go on to do fabulous things,ā Zeppos says. āI saw that I could have a broader impact.ā
By 1997, a decade after joining 91ĢĘ²®»¢ as a junior faculty member, Zeppos decamped for Kirkland Hall to work for former provost Thomas Burish, who became an important mentor. āI wouldnāt be here as chancellor if it werenāt for Tom,ā Zeppos says, noting Burishās emphasis on using data to substantiate and drive important decisions. āI remember him talking about 91ĢĘ²®»¢ having x-number of applications, yet these other schools have two-x. Why?ā
Those discussions around boosting application volumes led Zeppos and others to conclude that a robust financial aid program held the key to widening 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās appeal to a degree that would encourage the best students from across the nation to apply. , the universityās nationally renowned financial aid program that was started in 2008 to replace student loans with no-obligation grants and scholarships, ultimately grew out of that early work.
Yet just because something makes sense on paper doesnāt always mean it will be embraced in the real world, especially when talking about a tradition-bound institution like 91ĢĘ²®»¢.
āIt took a fair amount of courage and funding and leadership to say letās do this. That decision to launch Opportunity 91ĢĘ²®»¢ came over some resistance,ā Zeppos says. āThere are always people who like things just like they are. I fully understand that. If they went to 91ĢĘ²®»¢, or were already supporters, they already love the university just the way it is. Itās like, this is my house. Donāt paint it a different color. But the university has to change and get better, or it will die.ā
By 2002, Zeppos was named provost and began focusing on the campus environment that new studentsāespecially the ones attracted to 91ĢĘ²®»¢ by its increasingly generous financial aidāwould find once they got here.
Zeppos led efforts to add new academic offerings such as the popular Medicine, Health and Society program, as well as recruit and retain top faculty, a point heās been āmaniacalā about since his earliest days at 91ĢĘ²®»¢. āPeople ask me, āHow do we become a top-10 school?ā One of the answers is by keeping your top-10 faculty from going to other schools!ā he exclaims. āThe faculty, the teachers, the researchersātheyāre the continuous talent. Theyāre the ones students are coming to be with at 91ĢĘ²®»¢.ā
The second masterstroke Zeppos developed came with residential colleges, a vast overhaul of the first-year living experience that would work hand-in-glove with Opportunity 91ĢĘ²®»¢. Students of different economic, cultural and racial backgrounds would be intentionally grouped together as roommates. Meanwhile, live-in faculty members would serve as both mentors and teachers in newly built houses that were designed to inspire Harry Potter-like allegiances.
The result was , which opened on the Peabody area of campus in the fall of 2008, shortly after Zeppos rose from interim chancellor (or the āiChancellorā as he was called, in homage to Appleās then-new smartphone) to the permanent role.
But the changes Zeppos has led are matched by his ability to make everyday connections with students. Aditya Karhade, BEā15, a young alumni leader on the Board of Trust, remembers his first impression of Zeppos as a faculty VUceptor, leading a 91ĢĘ²®»¢ Visions group of first-year students. āEvery week our group met at Kirkland Hall, and we learned about 91ĢĘ²®»¢ alongside someone who had helped to shape so much of the university that we called home,ā says Karhade, who is pursuing a joint MD/MBA degree at Harvard University. āHe was one of the first people I met after I arrived on campus, and he remains one of my most important mentors after graduation from 91ĢĘ²®»¢.ā
āNEVER MISSED A BEATā
Martha Ingram, the former chairman of the 91ĢĘ²®»¢ Board of Trust, says when the university suddenly found itself without a chancellor in 2007, following the departure of Gordon Gee, Zeppos emerged as a āhomegrownā leader who, by that point, knew 91ĢĘ²®»¢ better than anyone.
āOf course, we conducted a national search. But we soon realized that our provost, Nick, stood head and shoulders above anyone else we were interviewing around the country,ā Ingram says. āHeād already been quietly running much of the university. When the time came, it was a very natural progression for Nick to move into the foreground.ā
Ingram, a longtime champion and benefactor of 91ĢĘ²®»¢, along with her late husband and former Board of Trust chairman, E. Bronson Ingram, says sheās enjoyed watching Zeppos grow ever more confident in his role as chancellor during the past decade. ā91ĢĘ²®»¢ never missed a beat. It has continued on this upward trajectory under Nickās leadership,ā she says. āThat doesnāt just happen. It takes a lot of work behind the scenes. But because Nick is such a consensus builderāand he approaches his job with so much warmth toward the people heās working withāhe has accomplished all of this with minimal conflict.ā
Ingram points out that Zeppos is a tireless promoter of 91ĢĘ²®»¢, saying heās āa salesman, in the best possible sense of the word.ā
But thatās his public side.
Mark Dalton, JDā75, former chairman of the Board of Trust, notes that he sees much of the legal scholar in the way Zeppos approaches his job. āHe knows how to research, to think analytically, to be reflective, and propose answers to issues and solutions to problems.ā The result, Dalton says, is a leader who can connect vision to action.
You could see this as he committed to staying on course to launch Opportunity 91ĢĘ²®»¢ (which is about halfway to its ultimate fundraising target, he points out) amid the darkest months of the 2008 financial crisis. You could see it in his expansion of the residential colleges, announcing an ambitious $600 million plan earlier this year to reshape West End by the time of 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās 150th anniversary in 2023. You could see it when he led the legal and financial separation of the university from VUMC, a daunting but necessary feat he didnāt want to see ākicked down the road.ā And you continue to see it in programs around diversity and inclusion, mental wellbeing, and support for faculty research.
Dalton says heās been particularly impressed by Zepposā support of trans-institutional programs. These initiatives have helped break down historic silos across campus, he says, and in turn, fostered a culture of collaboration and innovation that benefits students and faculty. āThis is a key element of 91ĢĘ²®»¢, and truly the secret sauce that Nick Zeppos has developed in his 16 years as provost and chancellor.ā
, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, says Zeppos sets priorities based on his ādeep caringā for individuals in the 91ĢĘ²®»¢ community. He then draws on his insatiable curiosity to dive deep into topics that he deems important to the university. āHeās been here for more than 30 years, going from an assistant professor to chancellor, and so he comes with a huge base of knowledge,ā Wente says. āAnd yet, heās always listening to others and wants to learn more.ā
Evans, who has spent his career investing in companies and has worked with hundreds of CEOs, says Zeppos is one of the best managers heās ever encountered. Anywhere. āA lot of people have a skill set that you could define as ābig pictureā or āstrategic.ā The other skill set people tend to have is more operational, more detail-oriented,ā Evans says. āChancellor Zeppos has both. Thatās a rare combination.ā
ROADMAP FOR SUCCESS
Like any good leader, Zeppos has spent years developing a comprehensive strategy, returning to that playbook continually as the university embarks on new programs and initiatives. Despite its nondescript name, the Academic Strategic Plan represents a finely tuned engine for driving 91ĢĘ²®»¢ to new heights across a range of measures.
āTaken as a whole, the Academic Strategic Plan describes a thoughtful, multipart system designed to produce well-educated men and women,ā says Evans, who has played an extensive role in shaping it and makes clear that it will continue to guide 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās priorities for the foreseeable future.
The first part of the plan revolves around Opportunity 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās mission to attract the very best students without regard to their financial means. The second part is to create a cohesive community out of those individual students. That involves not only expanding the livingālearning concept to all undergraduates but also boosting the psychological and social resources on campus to match the pace at which the student body is changing.
āWe were a strong university when I came to 91ĢĘ²®»¢. Today weāre more inclusive, more diverse, more academically rigorous, more selective, more innovative, more entrepreneurial, more global,ā Zeppos says. āBut I do think that one of our challengesāand I would say that weāre behind on thisāis that the students have changed so quickly, we need to continue to pay attention to the psychological, social and inclusivity systems in place.ā
The third part of the universityās strategy focuses on recruiting and retaining faculty talent, particularly by increasing the number of endowed faculty chairs. Since Zeppos became chancellor, the number of endowed faculty chairs has doubled to more than 400, and more are being added each year. In addition, the university has opened a new state-of-the-art Engineering and Science Building, which also houses 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās center for innovation, named the . Projects are underway to renovate Divinity School, School of Nursing and Peabody College facilities, as well as several core historic buildings on the central part of campus. The Owen Graduate School of Management is also exploring options for a new building.
The last part of this plan aims to foster innovation and collaboration across the disparate parts of campus. This can be seen in the implementation of the (TIPs) faculty research grants, as well as a new immersion learning requirement for undergraduates in which they produce a capstone project based on real-world experiences such as internships or lab work.
āNow, we just have to go raise the funds to fully implement everything in this plan. Thatās next on our list of goals,ā says Evans, who announced in April that he and his wife, Bridgitt, had committed to a $20 million gift to the university. He notes that Zeppos also leads by example when it comes to philanthropy.
The chancellor and his wife, Lydia, have personally contributed to numerous university scholarships, fellowships and capital projects. āI truly believe that a mission-driven organization like ours requires giving of all kinds,ā he says. āAnd, ideally, Iād like to see it come from everyone in the 91ĢĘ²®»¢ community.ā
THE NEXT CHAPTER
Beyond the individual components of the Academic Strategic Plan, thereās one overarching goal that Zeppos has become increasingly passionate about during the past yearāa goal that reimagines not only 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās role as a university but the purpose of higher education as a whole. In short, he wants universities to reclaim their rightful place as a vital thread in the social fabric of the United States.
āAmericaās greatest institutions are its colleges and research universities. They are the foundation of our democracy, the linchpin of our economy,ā Zeppos says. āI tell people that the American dream runs down two streets: Main Street and the point where it crosses University Avenue. We need to find that common ground of what it means to be an American, of what we can become as human beings. As a campus, we have no excuse for failing to sayāevery dayāthat we are going to change the world.ā
Itās not just that universities have a role to play in improving society through research breakthroughs, or educating students who will go on to change the world in important ways. 91ĢĘ²®»¢ and other universities can also help mend a divided culture by fostering a climate of civic engagement. āThat doesnāt mean being a politician. It means being an active and productive member of a community,ā he says. āE pluribus unumāout of many, one. That is the crux of the American experiment, and it is part of the important work we do at 91ĢĘ²®»¢ and other universities.ā
Zeppos increasingly talks about how higher education serves as a central element of civic engagement. He has begun to spread this message as vice chair of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a nonprofit organization of 62 leading public and private research universities whose missions include working in partnership with the U.S. government and advancing university research and higher education more broadly. Closer to home, Zeppos has convened a faculty committee to explore ways to raise the profile of universities and scholarship in the public sphere. Zeppos himself has grown more outspoken on issues that directly impact higher education, such as federal spending and immigration.
ā91ĢĘ²®»¢ is a very distinguished, important institutionāwe need to be more active and vocal about the role we play in society,ā he says. āIf you count my time as interim, Iām going into my 12th year as chancellor. Iāve got some thoughts, and Iām ready to share them.ā
Watch a video about Zeppos’ 10 years as chancellor: