Reddit mentions of The Fall of the Faculty

/u/kpop5000 is probably thinking of this book, which references RPI a couple times, https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Faculty-Benjamin-Ginsberg/dp/0199975434

Here's a good book about exactly this.

The admit rate reflects a national trend at nearly all selective colleges and has little to do with Zimmer running the show. There are several liberal arts colleges that have seen similar dips in admit rates during this same period. College rankings by newspapers are mostly just advertising and can't be taken too seriously. U of C's prestige has been unaffected throughout this period, as far as I can tell.

This guy is totally overpaid. Top CEOs in the US are even worse. U of C has seen bigger increases in revenue in past decades, and administrators were paid a lot less back then. The article in the OP gives specific examples that show he's doing a terrible job (debt downgrade, poor communication with faculty, deficits, etc.). U of C simply has not been immune to the national shift toward running universities more like businesses (as demonstrated by Benjamin Ginsberg (U of C alum) in The Fall of the Faculty) that led to absurd salaries for top administrators, more cheap adjuncts, higher tuition, etc.