Stanford University is preparing to hire a new president this spring, just as the task of leading the world’s most influential schools — and keeping that job — has become more politicized and scrutinized than ever before. 
Presidents set the agenda and the tone for universities, a role that echoes across classrooms, student dorms and donor decisions. They serve as fundraiser-in-chief for their campus, as its top administrator and, at places like Stanford and the Ivy League schools, are among its brainiest scholars.