It's only fitting that ceremonies for the official dedication of the Sheila W. and Richard J. Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts include elements of theater, film and dance performed by Cornell University students.

Beginning at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 19, in the Schwartz Center's Kiplinger Theatre, longtime Cornell benefactors Sheila and Richard Schwartz will be treated to a live dance performance, a clip from a student film project and a video scene from the theatre department's sold-out production of "Amadeus" performed here last spring. These presentations, including formal remarks and a ribbon-cutting, celebrate the official naming of the performing arts center in recognition of a gift by Richard and Sheila Schwartz.

Guest speakers for the event include: Cornell President Hunter Rawlings; Philip E. Lewis, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; David Feldshuh, professor and artistic director of the Schwartz Center; and David Bathrick, chair of the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance. Following the formal ceremony and performances, the ribbon- cutting will take place on the Frank E. Gannett Plaza (in front of the center).

Richard Schwartz, Cornell Class of 1960, is chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). The country's largest state arts council, NYSCA is the primary public funding organization for the arts in New York state, working to maintain the state's paramount position as a cultural center by providing strong support for creative excellence. As an arts advocate, Schwartz has been instrumental in the increased state support for the arts in New York in recent years. In the aftermath of the events of Sept. 11, he has worked to bring access to federal emergency funds to the many not-for-profit arts organizations that have been damaged physically and financially by the terrorist attacks. Sheila Schwartz shares her husband's avid interest in art and theater. She completed her undergraduate work at Sarah Lawrence College and earned a master's degree at the New School of Social Research. She is particularly interested in American studies and American culture of the late 19th and early 20th century. Their two children, John Schwartz '94 and Jennifer Schwartz '95, are both graduates of Cornell.

Richard and Sheila Schwartz have been very generous to Cornell. In addition to their support of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, they endowed the Richard J. Schwartz Professorship in Social Sciences, currently held by Isaac Kramnick. They also have endowed the Richard J. Schwartz Directorship of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, held by Franklin Robinson. In addition, provided support for the renovation of the Rockefeller Hall auditorium in honor of Richard Schwartz's father, David Schwartz, and Sheila Schwartz's grandfather, Francis T. Hunter '16.

Prior to his 1999 appointment as NYSCA chairman by Gov. George E. Pataki, Schwartz served as the council's vice chairman. He also was chairman of the National Museum of American Art: Smithsonian Institution. Prior to his current position as president of the Richard J. Schwartz Corp. of New York City, he was head of the clothing company Jonathan Logan, where at age 25 he was the youngest president of a company on the New York Stock Exchange list. He became a member of the Cornell University Council in 1965, joined the College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council in 1970 and is a longtime member and former chair of the Johnson Museum Advisory Council. He has been a member of the Cornell Board of Trustees since 1989 and serves on its Academic Affairs and Campus Life, Board Membership, Alumni Affairs and Development, and Land Grant and Statutory College Affairs committees.

Among the guests anticipated at the dedication ceremony are Cornell trustees, council members, faculty and staff. Don Randel, former Cornell provost and former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, also will attend. Randel now is president of the University of Chicago.