The importance of humility and humanitarianism and a rule of living more or less like Indiana Jones were two major themes in Cornell President David Skorton's "Last Lecture," April 17.

"I don't know what I'm doing. I'm making it up as I go along," said Skorton to members of Cornell's Mortarboard Senior Honor Society. Its "Last Lecture" series asks a professor each semester to speak as if it were his or her last time addressing the Cornell community.

Skorton also encouraged audience members to consider that tiny differences often separate the powerful from the powerless. He stressed what he called the "non-linearity" or unpredictability of life.

Skorton's father immigrated to the United States from western Russia in search of a better life, Skorton said. His father's strong belief in the power of education inspired Skorton to become the first in his family to pursue a higher education.

Higher education has the potential to enrich lives, said Skorton. Having access to it, he added, means we are privileged people with a chance to make a difference.

Skorton also discussed his career as a physician and clinician in cardiology, saying that he was drawn to the field at a time when new treatments for heart defects were being discovered. He realized then just how many unknowns exist in the world.

Doing biomedical research, he said, taught him the importance of skepticism. We should "distrust easy answers" and "be tenacious in building an evidence-based case," Skorton said.

He noted that his shift from research to administration happened more or less by accident. When his research division needed an interim leader, he stepped in. At that point, he had no idea where the move would take him (hence, the Indiana Jones reference.)

As a leader, he stressed how crucial it is not to be invested in any one point of view. Open-mindedness is the key to successful leadership because, he said, "leaders serve everyone."

For example, Skorton shared the story of a Cornell freshman who stopped him on the Arts Quad one day to offer some frank advice about how to improve his Cornell Daily Sun column. That day, said Skorton, the nonlinearity of life showed its colors: The freshman taught, and the leader learned.

Jill McCoy '09 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.