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 Pomona
College will inaugurate David W. Oxtoby as the ninth
president of the College in a ceremony on the Pomona campus
on Saturday, October 11. Events will begin with a symposium
at 10 a.m., continue with the inaugural ceremony beginning
at 2:30 p.m., and close with a faculty recital on Sunday,
October 12.
In keeping with academic tradition, the inauguration
ceremony will include a processional of more than 75
delegates from colleges and universities across the nation,
as well as representatives from civic, church and
educational groups and Pomona College trustees, faculty,
alumni and administrators. It will also feature an address
from Mary Patterson McPherson, president emeritus of Bryn
Mawr College and vice president of The Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation, and an inaugural address from Oxtoby.
Oxtoby, an internationally noted chemist, began his duties
as president of Pomona College, with a co-terminus
appointment as professor of chemistry, on July 1. The first
chemist to serve as Pomona's president, he was previously
dean of physical sciences at the University of Chicago.
As a research chemist, Oxtoby is author or co-author of more
than 165 scientific articles on such subjects as light
scattering, chemical reaction dynamics, phase transitions
and liquids, and has been guest lecturer at conferences and
institutions around the globe. He has also co-authored two
nationally popular textbooks in chemistry and received
fellowships from the Guggenheim, von Humboldt, Dreyfus,
Sloan, Danforth and National Science foundations.
Maintaining a long-term commitment to remaining active in
the classroom even while holding administrative positions,
Oxtoby plans to co-teach a course in Environmental Chemistry
at Pomona in the spring of 2004. He holds his doctorate in
chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.
The formal ceremony will be preceded by an inaugural
symposium examining “Pomona College and the Pacific Rim: A
Look to the Future,” which will be held from 10 a.m. to
noon. The keynote address, titled “California-It’s on the
Pacific Rim Too,” will be given by Steven S. Koblik,
president of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and
Botanical Gardens, in the Bridges Hall of Music (150 E.
Fourth Street, Claremont). Concurrent breakout sessions from
11 a.m. to noon are as follows:
- “This Land is Whose Land?: Environmental Challenges
Facing Southern California and the Pacific Rim," moderated
by Nancy S. Dye, president of Oberlin College;
- "Factual, Fantastic or Phantasmagorical: The Media's
Role in Defining the Image of Southern California and the
Pacific Rim" moderated by Richard T. Schlosberg III, CEO,
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and former
publisher, Los Angeles Times;
- "Raising California: The Effect of Place on the K-12
Educational System," moderated by Alexander Gonzalez '72,
president of the California State University, Sacramento;
- "The Village It Takes - Pomona College and Its
Immediate Locales: Opportunities for Learning, Outreach,
and Service," moderated by W. Benton Boone, M.D. '62; and
- "A Strategic Circumference - Pomona College and Its
International Neighbors: Defining Our Global Place and
Purpose," moderated by William G. Keller '70, executive
editor of The New York Times.
For more information on the inauguration ceremony and
symposium, call David Scott at (909) 621-8141.
On Sunday, October 12, the festivities conclude with a
Faculty Recital at 3 p.m. in the Bridges Hall of Music. For
more information on the music event, call (909) 621-8155.
One of the nation's pre-eminent liberal arts colleges,
Pomona College, founded in 1887, provides its students with
a challenging curriculum in the humanities, natural
sciences, social sciences and fine arts and an unsurpassed
environment for intellectual inquiry and growth. Among its
hallmarks are its small classes, close relationships between
students and faculty, and student research opportunities.
Located in Claremont, California, just east of Los Angeles,
the residential College is home to about 1,500 students. |
