ITHACA, N.Y. -- This week, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Peter Meinig and Provost Biddy Martin reached out to the Cornell community to provide their assurances of continuity, stability and of a smooth transition to Hunter Rawlings' interim presidency. Here are their statements:

Chairman Meinig:

"I am very pleased that Hunter Rawlings, who served the university as president for seven years, has agreed to accept the position of interim president until we complete the search for a new president.

"The president's senior leadership team, composed of Provost Biddy Martin and Provost for Medical Affairs Tony Gotto, as well as the vice presidents, remains intact and looks forward to working with Hunter Rawlings.

"We have an excellent leadership team in place which should provide continuity and stability to the entire university employee organization.

"The current academic priorities in place have been developed by the provosts together with the colleges and deans. The board has reviewed and is very supportive of the priorities in place.

"I will very shortly appoint a search committee to identify the next president of Cornell in a deliberate but expeditious manner. The committee will include representatives from the faculty, student body, administration and staff, as well as the board of trustees."

Provost Martin:

"During his presidency, Jeff Lehman has provided us with beautiful formulations of what makes Cornell the distinctive university it is -- language that goes to the heart of some of our most enduring values. He has identified Cornell's great strengths and potential contributions in research and education on issues of sustainability. He has broadened our focus on genomics and on computer and information sciences, and has called on Cornell to define what it means to be an international, or transnational, university in the 21st century.

"It is a challenge to us all to make the transition we now need to make, and I have no doubt that we will all rise to it. The institution is healthy, our goals and priorities are sound, and the deans, provost's office, senior administrative staff and interim president will, of course, provide continuity and stability in academic and administrative domains. We can move forward with confidence in all the constituent parts of this university."