As a young university administrator, Lloyd Elliott got his first glimpse of how the business and academic communities differ in practice and philosophy when he joined the board of directors of a small New England bank. It was the beginning of a career that would ultimately take him to the presidency of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and to membership on the boards of some 50 corporations and not-for-profit organizations. For more than 40 years he traveled between these two dissimilar worlds - higher education and corporate America - discovering their strengths and weaknesses, their differences and similarities. Above all, he learned that there was often a mutual lack of understanding - and sometimes disrespect - between the two. In The University and Corporate America, Elliott draws on his wide experiences in an attempt to bring about a broader understanding of business on the part of academics and clearer insights into colleges and universities on the part of men and women in private enterprise. His goal: To bridge the two worlds. He reveals with striking realism the strengths and weaknesses of the corporate sector and academia as he witnessed them first-hand. Candidly, he deals with greed and philanthropy in both worlds, the use and misuse of power, the successes and failures of university and corporate leaders, and intrigue and prejudice on the campus and in the boardroom - including the ongoing struggle of women to gain equal opportunity. Throughout his book, he points to effective practices followed unilaterally by each group that would benefit both, stressing that working together cooperatively would lead to a better, more productive society for all...