Whennextyear’scropofhigh-schoolgraduatesarriveatOxfordUniversityinthefallof2009they’llbejoinedbyanewface;AndrewHamiltonthe55-year-oldprovost(教务长)ofYalewho’llbecomeOxford’svice-chancellor—a

　　Whennextyear’scropofhigh-schoolgraduatesarriveatOxfordUniversityinthefallof2009they’llbejoinedbyanewface;AndrewHamiltonthe55-year-oldprovost(教务长)ofYalewho’llbecomeOxford’svice-chancellor—apositionequivalenttouniversitypresidentinAmerica.

　　Hamiltonisn’ttheonlyeducatorcrossingtheAtlantic.SchoolsinFranceEgyptSingaporeetchavealsorecentlymadetop-levelhiresfromabroad.Highereducationhasbecomeabigandcompetitivebusinessnowadaysandlikesomanybusinessesit’sgoneglobal.Yetthetalentflowisn’tuniversal.High-levelpersonneltendtoheadinonlyonedirection:outwardfromAmerica.

　　ThechiefreasonisthatAmericanschoolsdon’ttendtoseriouslyconsiderlookingabroad.ForexamplewhentheboardoftheUniversityofColoradosearchedforanewpresidentitwantedaleaderfamiliarwiththestategovernmentamajorsourceoftheuniversity’sbudget.“Wedidn’tdoanyglobalconsideration”saysPatriciaHayestheboard’schair.TheboardultimatelypickedBruceBensona69-year-oldColoradobusinessmanandpoliticalactivist(活动家)whoislikelytodowellinthemaintaskofmodernuniversitypresidents:fund-raising.Fund-raisingisadistinctivelyAmericanthingsinceU.S.schoolsrelyheavilyondonations.Thefund-raisingabilityislargelyaproductofexperienceandnecessity.

　　ManyEuropeanuniversitiesmeanwhilearestillmostlydependentongovernmentfunding.Butgovernmentsupporthasfailedtokeeppacewithrisingstudentnumber.Thedeclineingovernmentsupporthasmadefunding-raisinganincreasingnecessaryabilityamongadministratorsandhashiringcommitteeshungryforAmericans.

　　Inthepastfewyearsprominentschoolsaroundtheworldhavejoinedthetrend.In2003whenCambridgeUniversityappointedAlisonRichardanotherformerYaleprovostasitsvice-chancellortheuniversitypubliclystressedthatinherpreviousjobshehadoverseen“amajorstrengtheningofYale’sfinancialposition.”

　　Ofcoursefund-raisingisn’ttheonlyskilloutsidersoffer.Theglobalizationofeducationmeansmoreuniversitieswillbeseekingheadswithinternationalexperienceofsomekindofpromoteinternationalprogramsandattractaglobalstudentbody.Foreignerscanofferafr