As he prepares to leave Vanderbilt for Duke, Vice Chancellor Mike Schoenfeld’s legacy is one that involves almost every student on campus. Schoenfeld likely played a very significant role, perhaps not in as visible a fashion as former Chancellor Gordon Gee, in bringing each and every one of us to Vanderbilt.

Schoenfeld, when he completes this semester, his final at Vanderbilt, will have served 12 years as vice chancellor, making him the longest-serving vice chancellor in the university’s history. Considering Schoenfeld’s breadth and depth of knowledge and experience of the university after more than a decade, as well as his unequivocal success, replacing him should prove difficult. During his tenure, he collaborated with three chancellors, 11 vice chancellors, 24 deans and, most importantly, 20,000 students.

Undeniably, over the past decade Vanderbilt’s image has risen steadily, from the U.S. News and World Reports rankings to the increasing regional and ethnic diversity of the undergraduate profile. Clearly, Gee deserves a lot of recognition for the accomplishments made during his tenure, but Schoenfeld was there to help lay the foundation, playing an integral role in both the achievements themselves and the way they were perceived. Public relations play a critical role for any institution as large and with as large an endowment as Vanderbilt, and Vanderbilt has had few, if any, public relations gaffes during Schoenfeld’s tenure.

Schoenfeld has provided a model for the type of administrator who makes students and student life the top priority, while maintaining a fair amount of visibility on campus. His involvement in a wide variety of activity and departments ensured closer contact with many students on campus, but Schoenfeld’s personal approach made each of those exchanges unique.