Allan Gilmour, 76
President
Wayne State
Detroit
The longtime auto exec relishes his new life in academia: "I can't think of another enterprise where a quarter of the people are new every year."
Sometimes second and third acts in a career aren't driven by the necessity to make a living but by a need to make a difference.
In 2002, Allan Gilmour agreed to step out of retirement and return to Ford Motor as vice chairman. His goal was no more ambitious than to bring stability to a place wracked by financial turmoil.
Eight years later Wayne State University's board, shaken by the sudden loss of its president, asked Gilmour to step in, again to bring stability.
Gilmour's life had been the auto industry; he was not an academic. "I am a believer that most people are less able to decide what they can do than outsiders are, so if the board thought I could do this, they were probably right," says Gilmour, who'll serve during the lengthy search for a permanent successor.
A decade ago Gilmour was seen as a force of diversity as one of the few openly gay top executives in America. Now he's seen as a crucial link between education and Michigan's economic future.
He has no patience with complacency in the workforce. "There's a sense of 'Why do I have to adjust? This will come back; I'll be fine again.' But no, they won't be fine. They need to train -- not for today's jobs but for tomorrow's."
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