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Board of Trustees Announces Cornell's 12th President
Dr. David J. Skorton,
president of the University of Iowa, has been chosen as the next president
of Cornell University. The board approved his appointment enthusiastically
at a special meeting held today in Ithaca. He will assume his responsibilities
as Cornell's 12th president on July 1, 2006. Hunter R. Rawlings will
continue
to serve as Cornell's interim president until that date.
An eminent physician, scholar and seasoned academic leader, David
has established an impressive record of accomplishment. He served
for more than twenty
years in a variety of faculty and executive positions at the University
of Iowa before becoming president in March 2003. David is an avid
supporter of the arts and humanities. He declared 2004-05 the
Year of the Arts and Humanities, with a competitive grants program,
two major arts festivals and dozens of events on the campus
of the University
of Iowa and throughout the state. In addition he serves, as does
Cornell Provost Biddy Martin, on the Association of American Universities/American
Council of Learned Societies Humanities Steering Committee. David
has demonstrated a deep commitment to
excellence in interdisciplinary higher education and a thoughtful
appreciation for
the role a publicly-supported institution plays in society. David
impressed our colleagues on the Search Committee with his deeply
held personal commitment
to diversity and the importance of access for people from all walks
of life. We are delighted that he will be bringing to Cornell his
wide range
of talents and warm
personality.
Our new president's many interests and valuable experiences will
help accelerate the convergence between our campuses in Ithaca
and New York. In this respect,
I am also pleased to report that David will hold faculty appointments
in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical
College (WCMC)
in New York City, and in Biomedical Engineering, at the College
of Engineering on the Ithaca campus. His research focuses on
cardiac imaging, computer
image processing, and congenital heart disease in adolescents
and adults, and he has published extensively in all three areas.
We are also fortunate to welcome Dr. Robin L. Davisson, David's
wife, who is an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology
at the University
of Iowa and a rising star in her own right. Robin will join the
Cornell faculty with a joint appointment in Biomedical Sciences
in
the College of Veterinary Medicine on the Ithaca campus and in
Cell and Developmental Biology at Weill Cornell Medical College
in New York City.
David's son, Joshua, is currently an undergraduate studying at
Stanford.
David, himself, has
been active in his community, and is an avid musician who plays saxophone
and flute and co-hosts a weekly
jazz program on the
University of Iowa's public radio station. David was selected
from a number of outstanding candidates after an extensive search and
consultation with all segments of the
Cornell community and
educational leaders around the world. We are grateful to Fellow
Trustee, Diana Daniels, and her 26 colleagues on the Presidential
Search Committee for their hard work and commitment to doing the very
best to recruit our next president.
For your further consideration, additional information about
David and today's announcement, including video coverage, are
available
on the university's
web site at http://www.cornell.edu.
I am confident you will find our new president to be a man of
astonishing scope and accomplishment - much like our own university
-and I
hope you will join my colleagues and me in welcoming David Skorton
and Robin Davisson
to the Cornell community.
Sincerely,
Peter C. Meinig
Chairman of the Board of Trustees |
