The folks at Google write that they've appointed Vinton Cerf as their Chief Internet Evangelist, and brag on his nickname "Father of the Internet."

But what is he going to do? And what can he accomplish?

While Cerf was a fine engineer in his day, his record as an executive leaves a lot to be desired. Those with memories recall that he was with MCI all through the Worldcom disaster. He gave speeches, he took awards, and he had nothing to do with the fraud. He was out of the loop.

He was lipstick on that pig.

Will he be any closer to the loop at Google? Or does this mean Google is about to turn itself into another MCI?

The sad fact is that Google is rapidly becoming a bureaucratized mess. Current CEO Eric Schmidt ignored Blogger, he gave his corporate credibility a padding, he has loaded up on his personal fortune and generally made a hash of those things it was in his power to make a hash of.

Google doesn't need lipstick on the pig, it needs a new head pig. That ain't Vint Cerf. (I think Vint would agree on that.)

But who would it be? If you could appoint a reasonably-seasoned executive-type person with a Clue to run Google today, who would it be?

Naturally I have given this some thought, and it does occur to me that a new type of leadership is needed. Perhaps someone from the institutional world, someone with great respect for the life of the intellect, but who understands that even colleges need bureaucracies which must be mastered.

Someone who can get you the headlines of Vint Cerf, and get something done as well.

So, there you have it.

Her name is Ruth Simmons, and she presently runs Brown University.

Make a run at her.