White House considering professor for national position

Professor Leslie Lenkowsky is being considered by the Bush administration to lead the Corporation for National Service, which provides opportunities for thousands of Americans to serve in their communities.\nThe corporation -- which runs AmeriCorps -- works with state commissions, nonprofits, faith-based groups, schools and other civic organizations.\nLenkowsky has been a professor of philanthropic studies and public policy at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis since September of 1997, and is a research associate at the IU Center on Philanthropy. Lenkowsky confirmed that discussions with the White House about the position have been in progress for a few weeks. But the outcome is far from being settled, he said.\n"There's really nothing that I can discuss except for the fact that we have discussed it," Lenkowsky said. "At this point, we just have to see what the White House and the President decide."\nIf the nomination goes through, the position would not be his first government post. Former President George Bush appointed Lenkowsky to the Commission of National and Community Service, and former President Bill Clinton named him a director of the Corporation for National Service.\nLenkowsky's former posts include deputy director of the U.S. Information Agency and president of the Institute for Educational Affairs. Prior to his job with IU, Lenkowsky served for seven years as president of the Hudson Institute, a renowned public policy research institution in Indianapolis, where he focused on solutions for national domestic problems.\nLenkowsky said Americorps is a very important organization, one which he would be pleased to lead. \n"It's exciting to see the enthusiasm young people have for volunteer work. Anything I can do as a teacher or director or any other capacity is fine with me. Basically anything I can do to help the organization I would be eager to do."\nIU Spokeswoman Susan Dillman said she hadn't heard Lenkowsky was being considered, but that the consideration is another testament to IU's outstanding faculty.\n"The (White House) is continuing to turn to our faculty for key positions," Dillman said. "We certainly think that it's a measure of the quality of faculty at IU"