Someone can – and probably will – verify this but IIRC the majority of university presidents are promoted from its internal ranks. I don’t think that includes faculty who were actually educated at Chicago but mostly faculty who have been there for the long term. That also might be true for the position of provost.
What is interesting is that the two relatively recent presidents who were not from the university of Chicago but brought in from the outside each has the distinction of a relatively short tenure.
Most of the faculty I interacted with 25-30 years ago were not UChicago PhDs. But they definitely had a portfolio of intellectual work that was consistent with University of Chicago’s distinctive tradition of breaking new ground and changing methodological mindsets in several areas of study. We used to joke that you couldn’t get a UChicago faculty member or grad student to shut up about their work, even at gatherings which were entirely social. Kind of like the stories about undergrads who can’t shut up about what they learned in class while meeting for coffee. It’s kind of a place where people just geek out over ideas. Certainly there are very bright, intellectually engaged kids at East Coast elites - they might even be brighter than kids at UChicago. The difference is one of culture. Kids who love discussing Kant, Plato, Coase, or Modigliani-Miller while on a date might enjoy being at UChicago more than a whole bunch of other top schools (including East Coast elites). To highlight with just one amusing example, my hubby was dumped on his first date with someone while at Duke because he brought up the subject of why spicy food raises your body temp. She was “grossed out”. He was VERY glad to be at UChicago, where others actually took an interest in that subject!
The insularity that JHS and I have both observed there might be changing in very recent years, at least in the College. UChicago now pays kids to take on a variety of internships and most of the kids we know who have graduated there in the past 10 years seem to have their feet planted firmly on the ground. Some might have returned to campus to attend Booth or the law school, but their list of professional connections is actually quite impressive. My D17 is interested in an academic career (at least for now) but she is still looking forward to getting some practical, professional experience while at UChicago. We’ll see if that happens 