Mitarotonda

As Cornell University enters the holiday season and the crush of finals, the Presidential Search Committee (PSC) is proceeding with interviews and steadily moving toward its goal of choosing the final candidates. Diana Daniels, PSC chair, said committee members "are pleased with the quality of people we are seeing and the level of interest expressed in the position."

Among the PSC interviewers is Douglas C. Mitarotonda, B.A. '02, M.Eng. '03, who was elected by the student body to serve a two-year term on the Cornell Board of Trustees, beginning July 1, 2005, and one of two students serving on the PSC. The other is Joshua Katcher, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Mitarotonda is the first graduate or professional student to be elected to the board in more than 10 years. He also serves as a member of the board's Academic Affairs, Alumni Affairs and Development, Trustee-Community Communications, and Alumni Affairs Steering committees. He is now pursuing a doctorate in economics at Cornell.

Mitarotonda said he is fully engaged in the interview process and juggling PSC commitments with his academic and research responsibilities. But in this way, his situation is not much different than that of the other committee members.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I am happy to make my main priority," he said. "In terms of the other PSC members, I am continually impressed with their dedication and commitment to the search. Each member volunteers to invest large quantities of time researching, thinking about and traveling to meet each candidate we are considering."

Mitarotonda is an opinion columnist for The Cornell Daily Sun and also served as the graduate chair of the University Assembly last year. In addition, he has been involved in numerous campus organizations during his tenure at Cornell. He was a founding member of the Cornell University Solar Decathlon team, Renewable Energy Society and Engineers for a Sustainable World. He was also a varsity runner on the cross country and track teams as an undergraduate and is currently co-captain of the Ultimate Frisbee club team.

"Professionally, this experience means a tremendous amount to me," Mitarotonda said. "My current career path is certainly leading toward one in academia. The opportunity to have meaningful dialogue on the present and future states of Cornell, and higher education in general, has been invaluable to me. Furthermore, it is not often that someone my age gets to be the interviewer rather than the interviewee. It has been very educational for me to see the process from the other side, and I have certainly been taking notes on what I can do to make my future interviews successful."

He said his role on the committee is equal to that of all members and that his input on the search is welcomed and encouraged.

"Personally, I cannot think of a more important contribution I can make to Cornell and its community at this time than to help choose our next president," he said. I am extremely grateful to the board for asking me to participate in the search process."