President Martha E. Pollack sent the following message to the Cornell University community April 17:

I am honored to begin my service today as Cornell University’s 14th president and to join all of you in shaping the future of this distinguished institution. The Board of Trustees has entrusted me with a great responsibility, and I will do my utmost to deserve their confidence and yours.

I am grateful to Hunter and Elizabeth Rawlings, who have brought enlightened leadership and their personal warmth to the university over more than two decades, including during some very difficult times. My husband, Ken Gottschlich, and I have learned so much from them, and we wish them all the best as they pick up their long-deferred retirement plans.

Like five previous Cornell presidents, I come to Cornell from the University of Michigan, which shares many of Cornell’s fundamental values: its commitment to discovery through research, scholarship and creative activity; its dedication to teaching and learning; its belief in egalitarianism and in the importance of diversity; and its determination to serve the greater good through public engagement.

With its deep academic and cultural roots in Ithaca and its expanding presence in New York City, Cornell is at an exciting moment, with burgeoning intellectual collaborations across all its campuses that are creating, curating and communicating knowledge and providing unrivaled opportunities for teaching, learning, and societal contribution.

Over the next weeks and months, I will be learning from you about the full breadth and depth of Cornell. I am looking forward to our work together and, with your help, to making Cornell an even more distinguished and distinctive university.