Spring 2004 - Becker College

Becker Under New Leadership
Continued from page 3
SUNY-Cortland that a colleague told him about a job
opening for a president at Findlay College in Ohio. At
this point, Dr. Zirkle wasn’t sure about moving or applying
for a presidency. “I thought they would think I was
too young plus I didn’t have the typical academic background
for a president,” he says now. His family was settled
with their last daughter on the way so he didn’t
think the idea of moving again would be greeted with
enthusiasm. But, at his friend’s urging and with his
wife’s support, he decided to apply. By now, you know
that he got the job.
He and his wife and his daughters moved to Ohio.
“The next thing I knew, 20 years had passed,” says Dr.
Zirkle, laughing. During those 20 years, Dr. Zirkle had
a hand in changing the institution from one that served
fewer than 1,000 students to one that now boasts an
enrollment of nearly 5,000 students. He helped develop
a strong board of trustees, saw the school build its reputation
with nationally recognized programs, improved
alumni relations, transformed the face of the campus
with the construction of a half dozen new buildings and
the renovation of several others, enhanced the beauty of
the grounds, established numerous flourishing graduate
programs including a very successful on-line degree program,
and was instrumental in seeing the college
become a university. When asked to name what he
takes most pleasure in from his years at Findlay he says,
“I have been very proud of Findlay’s student body. As
the enrollment increased so did the quality of the students
(ACT/SAT/GPA scores). We were successful in
attracting more students from the local region who were
not only good students, but great people. The graduates
have been very successful in all areas – business,
education, etc. and their acceptance rates into graduate
programs have been phenomenal. The student athletes
have been wonderful ambassadors for the university and
the success of our athletic programs brought increased
recognition to the institution as a whole. There were
three national football championships plus one in
wrestling along with numerous individual national
champions, and Findlay was the only school ever to win
two national titles in the same year in equestrian competition.
The best part is that the athletes at Findlay were
among the very best students, maintaining grade point
averages equal to, and in many cases higher than, the
student body as a whole.” He beams when he reports
that Findlay had over 210 academic all-Americans during
his tenure as president. He believes that he has left
Findlay with excellent town/gown relations, market-driven
academic programs, broad-based financial support,
an exceptional faculty and staff, and graduates poised to
make a difference when they go out into the world.
When asked to name disappointments from his time at
4 / BECKER BRIDGES
Findlay, he admits that he would have liked to have
developed a larger endowment, although, by the time
he left, the endowment was six to seven times larger
than it was when he began.
Under Dr. Zirkle’s direction, Findlay became the first
in the nation to offer a hazardous materials management
program (est. 1989) and also to develop another
first – The Center for Terrorism Preparedness (CTP).
The CTP was established well in advance of 9/11, therefore
when those horrendous terrorist attacks occurred,
Findlay was singled out for comment. Dr. Zirkle was
called to testify about terrorism readiness in front of a
special senate committee six months after that attack.
Ken talked about the role that academia could play in
training and preparing first responders, like police, firefighters,
EMTs and doctors in response to such events.
Findlay was awarded millions of dollars in grants
towards its terrorism studies. Just as Dr. Zirkle looked to
the government to find out what was needed in the terror
preparation programs, he also looked to the business
world when it came time to establish an MBA program.
He met with corporate executives to find out
what they were seeking in an MBA graduate. That feedback
was instrumental in developing Findlay’s MBA program
and that same approach was used in developing
other graduate degree programs as well. Like Becker,
Findlay has a strong history in education, health science
and pre-vet programs.
Dr. Zirkle says he thoroughly enjoyed his years at
Findlay and especially relished the “building” part of his
job. He claims little credit; instead he says he simply
enabled good people to achieve their potential and
more. He is proud to say that Findlay is now at a stage
of maintaining but, realizing that, he became restless.
Seeking new challenges, as is his bent, he began looking
around - and his gaze landed on Becker College.
Keeping his search to schools east of the Mississippi,
he had rather specific criteria for what he was looking
for in an institution. “I looked at places that weren’t
blessed with large endowments, that needed to grow
their enrollment, where strategic planning and fund
raising were needed. Those are my strengths and I was
eager to put them to use to meet those challenges at a
new school,” says Ken. He and Chris put the five
schools where he was a finalist in a pecking order and,
after his initial interview with the succession committee,
Becker emerged as the number one choice. He says he
was very impressed with the committee members, whom
he describes as genuine, caring and anxious to do what
was best for Becker. He was thrilled to learn that he
had made the list of final four candidates but honestly
did not think that anyone from outside of New England
would be hired. After visiting the college on his second
interview, he was even more enthusiastic about relocating
here. “I learned that not only does Becker have
those challenges that I am looking for, but it also has
the people who are eager and able to meet them,” Ken
says. When he and Chris were able to talk about their