Brandeis Magazine

During his March 31 investiture as Brandeis University’s eighth president, Frederick Lawrence pledged to address both the uncertainties of the global future and the hopes of the campus community for new beginnings. “We will listen. We will be open to new ideas. We will encourage open debate. We will lead by example,” he said.

“In the coming months, I will lay out a strategic vision with concrete plans for securing Brandeis’ place as an elite, global liberal arts institution,” the former dean of George Washington University Law School told a crowd of nearly 1,500 that gathered for a 90-minute ceremony replete with words of welcome, musical interludes and a palpable spirit of celebration. On hand were faculty members, students, alumni and staff, along with representatives of nationwide colleges and universities wearing a rainbow of academic regalia.

After expressing ongoing commitment to the liberal arts and sciences, to diversity and to social justice — which together, he said, comprise the rock upon which Brandeis stands — the new leader previewed some of his early priorities, vowing to foster innovative partnerships worldwide; to preserve the essence of liberal arts teaching and adapt it to the 21st century; and to find better ways to use developing technology to enhance teaching.

For President Fred Lawrence’s complete inaugural address, go to www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/april/address.html.