Picking up his pen, he scribbled down notes when one of his vice provosts countered his idea with another. Hanlon didn’t interrupt and didn’t look at all perturbed when one of his employees contradicted his original idea. Instead, Hanlon waved his hands lightly and asked another question before agreeing to move forward with the new plan.

But while Hanlon was quickly convinced in the meeting simply by allowing his senior advisors to brainstorm with him, there’s one thing that seems to grab Hanlon’s attention more than anything, something that Hanlon himself admits frequently convinces him of his course of action — numbers.

--

Hanlon, who some may call a “math geek,” earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology.

After that, Hanlon worked briefly at both the California Institute of Technology and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hanlon has worked at the University of Michigan since 1986, rising through both the academic and administrative ranks.

Starting as an associate professor, Hanlon became a full professor in 1990. Two years later, he was awarded the prestigious recognition of an Arthur F. Thurnau professorship.

In 2001, Hanlon was given an endowed professorship, being named the Donald J. Lewis professor of mathematics. The same year, Hanlon received his first administrative post, becoming the associate dean for planning and finance at the College of Literature, Science and the Arts — a position which Hanlon says he never expected to be in.

“That was an opportunity that just landed unexpectedly in front of me,” Hanlon said.

From there, the math professor continued to rise in the administrative ranks, moving just down the hall from his current office in 2004 to become associate provost for academic and budgetary affairs. In 2007 he was promoted to vice provost.

Then, on July 1, Hanlon moved to the corner-office reserved for the provost.

But such a rise from academic to administrator was never part of the plan.

“I had no deliberate plan to do administrative work,” he said. “I wish I could say there was a big plan and that I followed the plan, but I didn’t. It just sort of, well, things happen and opportunities arise.”

--

While Hanlon’s original career goals never included becoming a university administrator, having academic types lead institutions of higher education isn’t anything unusual. According to the academic who leads the University, it’s a logical choice, too.

“I think particularly at the provost level, well, even at the presidential level, I think this is true, that for faculty to see somebody who has combined skills of both being a great scholar, a great teacher and being able to have people skills, management skills, to conceive strategy for the University, this is always a plus,” said Coleman, who holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and was on the faculty at the University of Kentucky for 19 years.

“Ultimately, the Provost’s Office is the one that ends up making the tenure decisions, so for the faculty to be confident of someone in that position … that’s just a plus,” she continued.

Former University Provost Teresa Sullivan, now the president at the University of Virginia, agreed.

“Phil, as chief academic officer, really has to understand the issues on the academic side of the house and that includes issues like teaching and curriculum and how you deploy faculty time and also about research,” Sullivan said earlier this month. “All that is integral to deploying the full academic resources of the University.