The warm late summer afternoon graced the inauguration ceremony today, and the guest speakers were likewise gracious in their warm regard for Cornell President David J. Skorton.

Serving as a master of ceremonies, Cornell Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Meinig, who presided over the event, provided welcome remarks and introductions and conducted the formal investiture of Skorton as Cornell's 12th president.

"David has demonstrated a well-informed and deep commitment to excellence to interdisciplinary studies and a thoughtful appreciation for the role a publicly supported institution plays in society," said Meinig. "He impressed us with his unwavering personal commitment to diversity and the importance of access to college for people from all walks of life; his zeal to foster greater collaborations between our campuses in Ithaca and New York City; and his range of interests and experience, his savvy, his warmth and his decency."

Later, Meinig read aloud a letter sent by Sanford Weill, chairman of the Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) Board of Overseers, who was unable to attend the event.

Then Skorton's longtime colleague and fellow physician Antonio M. Gotto Jr., the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of WCMC, reminded the audience that Skorton is a leader in the field of cardio-imaging who directed a clinic for congenital heart disease while serving as president of the University of Iowa. Gotto also related his first interaction with Skorton two decades ago. Gotto had heavily edited an article from Skorton on congenital heart disease for a monograph.

"I was rather critical of his manuscript and actually requested a number of revisions. Had I known I'd be speaking at his inauguration 22 years later, I'm sure the critique would have been modified," he said.

Provost Biddy Martin provided a touching and sincere address, equally leavened with humor.

"To lead the university in these times a president has to embrace complexity, believe in the human being's capacity to learn and change, the light in our likenesses and our comings together, the light in our differences and our goings apart. We have such a president in David Skorton. … he likes the knife's edge of invention, but he keeps his eye on the heart of things. … Under his leadership I am confident that substance will lead image, critical thought and reflection will prevail over the tricks our eyes and our minds can play on us, and academic freedom [will prevail] over partisan and political constraint."

David Feldshuh, artistic director of Cornell's Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, provided the faculty address. Feldshuh, also a physician who plays the saxophone, spoke of his love for Cornell, the university's fire of a passion for learning, of the need to "dedicate oneself "to something of lasting consequence" and of his reasons for staying here.

"Ezra Cornell and A.D. White dedicated their lives to this creation, and the result is a vision of lasting consequence," Feldshuh said. "Today we acknowledge that the journey that they started is worthy of our energies and will continue and continue beyond our days. Welcome David, welcome [Skorton's wife] Robin [Davisson]. We're glad you're here."