Professor Emeritus

2110 Benjamin Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
(301) 405-3574
rbirnbau@umd.edu

Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University
Joined faculty in 1989.

Teaching and Research Interests

Dr. Birnbaum's fundamental scholarly interest is in studying colleges and universities as institutions, and as social and interpretive systems. He is a higher education junkie, and an unapologetic supporter of the American system of colleges and universities. He believes that universities can be improved, but that many change efforts are more likely to be disruptive rather than constructive. He hopes UM students will develop both a deep appreciation of higher education, because only those who love these institutions should try to change them.

Books Published

• Speaking of Higher Education: A Dictionary of Academic Quotations. ACE/Praeger, 2004.
  
  
• Management Fads in Higher Education: Where They Come From, What They Do, Why They Fail. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
  
  
• How Academic Leadership Works: Understanding Success and Failure in the College Presidency. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992.
  
  
• Faculty in Governance: The Role of Senates and Joint Committees in Academic Decision Making. New Directions for Higher Education, No. 75. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991 (editor).
  
  
• Making Sense of Administrative Leadership: The "L" Word in Higher Education. ASHE/ERIC Higher Education Report. Washington, D.C.: Association for the Study of Higher Education, 1989 (with E. Bensimon and A. Neumann)
  
  
• How Colleges Work: The Cybernetics of Academic Organization and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988.
  
  
• Cooperation in Academic Negotiations: A Guide to Mutual Gains Bargaining: Institute for Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, 1985 (with J. Begin and J. Brown)
  
  
• Maintaining Diversity in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1983.
  
  
• ASHE Reader in Organization and Governance in Higher Education. Washington, D.C.: Association for the Study of Higher Education, 1983 (editor)
  
  
• Creative Academic Bargaining: Managing Conflict in the Unionized College and University. New York: Teachers College Press, 1980.
  
  

Leadership Roles

• 1994-96 Vice President and Dean of Faculty, Miyazaki International College, Miyazaki, Japan.
  
  
• 1974-78 Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
  
  
• 1971-74 Vice Chancellor, Department of Higher Education, State of New Jersey.
  
  
• 1968-70 Vice Chancellor for the Executive Office, The City University of New York.