Installation of UI President Set
URBANA, Il.—B. Joseph White will be installed as the 16th president of the University of Illinois on Thursday, September 22, in a ceremony at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus.
Students, faculty, staff and alumni representing the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) will join their counterparts at UIUC for the events.
“A formal installation of the new president early in the academic year affords us an opportunity to reflect upon and celebrate the University of Illinois’ place in our state, the nation and the world,” said Michele Thompson, Secretary of the Board of Trustees and chair of the inauguration steering committee.
Thompson said the ceremony would be a traditional but low-key event preceding the 70th annual meeting of the University of Illinois Foundation (UIF), the university’s private fundraising entity. The 2 p.m. installation ceremony in the Krannert Center will be followed by a reception in the lobby and—weather permitting—on the outdoor patio. Members of the public, university students, faculty and staff are invited to attend both events.
Additional details on the afternoon’s activities will be announced later. Thompson said the University of Illinois Foundation and the University of Illinois Alumni Association (UIAA) are hosts of the inauguration. The UIF and UIAA will sponsor the events and costs will be covered using private funds.
In addition to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, participants and guests for the installation will include representatives from the nation’s colleges and universities, Illinois public officials, former members of the U. of I. Board of Trustees, university students, faculty and staff, and alumni and friends of the university. A live broadcast of the installation ceremony will be carried to audiences at the university campuses in Chicago and Springfield and it will be shown on the local cable television service in Champaign-Urbana. Radio station WILL-AM 580 will broadcast the ceremony live as well.
If special accommodations are needed for guest with disabilities, please contact the Krannert Center’s Patron Services at 217.333-9716.
White, 58, was named University of Illinois president last November and took office on Jan. 31, 2005. A Detroit native reared in Kalamazoo, Mich., White spent nearly three decades affiliated with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he received his doctorate in business administration. He also served there as interim president, dean of the business school and faculty member. White earned a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University.
Among White’s priorities since taking office has been the development of a 10-year strategic plan for the university.
In addition to Thompson, the inauguration steering committee includes Sid Micek, president of the University of Illinois Foundation (UIF); Loren Taylor, president of the University of Illinois Alumni Association (UIAA); Jane Donaldson, a member of the UIF Board of Directors; Mary Kay Haben, vice chair of the UIAA Board of Directors; Professor Michael Grossman, chair of the University Senates Conference; and Thomas Hardy, Executive Director of University Relations.
The University of Illinois enrolls about 70,000 students at universities located in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign. The university has 550,000 alumni, with about 250,000 living in Illinois.
