The news that Janet Napolitano is leaving her post as homeland security chief under President Barack Obama to become the head of the University of California system is a reminder that serving in the administration can be a good career move.

Countless former administration officials have gone on to lucrative positions at law firms and think tanks, but plenty of administration officials leave for academia. Here are four former administration officials who have gone on to head universities—plus one who ended up back where she had worked before, though not at the top. 

1. LARRY SUMMERS
Served under: Bill Clinton
Notable leadership role: President, Harvard University

Summers served as treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton from 1999 to 2001, then went on to serve as president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006. He resigned after tangling with academic Cornel West over his rap albums and sharing his theory on why women might be underrepresented in science and engineering.

(Source: Flickr/Fortune Live Media)

2. ROBERT GATES
Served under: George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Barack Obama
Notable leadership role: President. Texas A&M University

Gates sandwiched a stint as president of Texas A&M University between being director of the CIA under President George H. W. Bush and secretary of defense under both presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Gates was the first defense secretary to serve under presidents of different parties. 

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

3. DONNA SHALALA
​Served under: Bill Clinton
Notable leadership role: President, University of Miami

​Shalala was secretary of Health and Human Services for eight years under President Bill Clinton, and became president of the University of Miami when she left her administration position in 2001. (She has also been known to teach a course on the country's health care system at the school.)

(Source: Flickr/Ted Eytan)

4. REBECCA BLANK
Served under: Barack Obama
Notable leadership role: Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Blank became the acting secretary of commerce for a year under Obama after the secretary went on leave following hit-and-run charges and then resigned. She now is chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

(Source: Flickr/Conexão Minicom)

5. CONDOLEEZA RICE
Served under: George W. Bush
Notable leadership role: Provost, Stanford University

Rice was provost of Stanford University before she worked for the George W. Bush administration, eventually becoming secretary of state. When she left the administration, she went back to Stanford University, where she is a political science professor, a senior fellow on public policy and a faculty member at its graduate school of business. 

​(Source: Fotopedia/Monika Flueckiger)

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