The ability to lead, and to lead well, is an awesome responsibility. The chancellor of this large teaching and research university, for instance, has the livelihoods of 30,000-plus students, educators, and administrators directly in his hands every day, and many other thousands besides, if you count research and industry professionals, and national, state, and local partners.

After five years at UMass Amherst, Chancellor John V. Lombardi stepped down to become president of Louisiana State University. In August, Dr. Thomas Cole Jr. was named interim chancellor for the Amherst campus while a search committee took up the task of finding a new permanent leader.

In a spirited Convocation address to the faculty in September, Dr. Cole pegged the personality of the campus: “Mediocrity has no place here,” said Cole. “This community continually strives to do more and be more, to do better and to be better. I look forward to what we can do in the time we have together.” Dr. Cole, who holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago, is president emeritus of Clark Atlanta University. He became the institution’s first president in 1989, following the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University in 1988. During his time as president of Clark Atlanta, Dr. Cole was credited with building enrollment, increasing the size of the faculty by more than 50 percent, and raising more than $100 million during the school’s first capital campaign.

Dr. Cole is the 24th leader in UMass Amherst’s almost 150 years of existence. Our leaders have been farmers, librarians, and teachers; they have been scientists, professional baseball players, and visionaries.

True leaders are always smart and often passionate to extremes. Their magnetism inspires those in their orbit to shine their brightest. As the search for a new chancellor takes place, we take a moment to look back and learn from those who have made the campus what it is today.