Issue date: 5/5/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Patrick Clayton Murano says that meeting the Bonfire victims' families was the hardest thing she has done. [Click to enlarge]

Elsa Murano sat comfortably in a chair by the roundtable in her 10th floor office with expansive windows overlooking campus, recounting her experiences of the past year.

She is the president of Texas A&M University, one of the largest land-grant institutions in the United States, a University that houses more than 48,000 undergraduates. She is also a wife, an organizer, and is responsible for the wellbeing of all students and faculty members on campus.

"The power [of being a leader] is in motivating others," Murano said.

She said being a woman gave her an added perspective on her leadership style and other people's reactions on subjects.

"We tend to be more willing to work with each other, collaborate with each other," she said.

"We listen more and that's what helps. [It helps us] better read personalities, we are aware from where they are coming from and discern what they are saying with their body language," Murano said.

Though some people criticize women in power, Murano said they are a minority. She said corporate America and presidents of other universities are women.

"Yes, there are some people who are in a wait and see attitude, whether a woman could be a good president, a good leader. I understand that responsibility and I hope to be the first of many," Murano said.

She laughingly called herself anal retentive because of her need to have things organized.

"I have Clorox wipes in my hand and I am a neat freak."

Murano recounted her experience of shopping at a grocery store, where a woman in line behind her said that in her 30 years of working for A&M it was the first time she had seen a president shopping for groceries.

"And I said, 'You know why? I don't have a wife. It's me,'" she said with a laugh.

Murano said one of her challenging tasks for this year included moving programs forward with limited resources.

"I would say that it is frustrating but also a pressure point because excellence by definition means that you have to do more and more," she said.

Continued...

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