The managerial roles of the university president and the corporation president were compared, and attention was directed to the skills needed by both types of executives and their relationships with their boards. The activities of the chief executive officers of five middle-to-large-sized American organizations were observed for a week. These activities were categorized, and a framework of 10 basic roles was developed to describe the administrators' responsibilities. Roles viewed as interpersonal included leadership roles, liaison roles, and figurehead roles (i.e., social, legal, and ceremonial tasks). Roles involving information processing included monitoring, disseminating information internally, and informing outsiders of organizational progress or developments. Finally, decision-making roles pertained to organizational change, conflict resolution, resource allocation, and negotiation. Two main differences between the environments of the university and corporate presidents were identified: the process of change was much slower and more diffused in the university setting due to the mission of a higher education institution; and the university president, especially the public university president, operated in a highly visible environment. (SW)