Inaugural to honor Lombardi, UMass

www.gazettenet.com By CHERYL B. WILSON, Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 4, 2003 -- AMHERST - Teaching and research will occupy center stage during the University of Massachusetts' inaugural festivities for Chancellor John V. Lombardi Thursday and Friday.

Lombardi, 60, a scholar of Latin America whose research focuses on Venezuela, also developed expertise in the management and evaluation of higher education when he was president of the University of Florida at Gainesville from 1990 to 1999. He has continued to teach throughout his administrative career.

Inauguration activities titled "The Academic Imperative" begin Thursday with symposia featuring nationally known UMass professors and researchers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students. A concurrent series of panel discussions and lectures on teaching, research and learning begins at 9:30 a.m. on the lower concourse of the Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center and continues until 5 p.m. All symposia are open to the public free of charge.

"I think it's terrific," said Barbara Osborne, professor of veterinary and animal sciences. She will discuss her research on white blood cells at 11:15 a.m., along with Derek Lovley, distinguished professor of microbiology, who will talk about his work with microbes that can generate electricity and restore polluted environments.

Osborne said, "It's a great way to showcase not just the faculty but the students, and what goes on around campus on all levels. To my recollection we have never had an event like this."

Gala dinner for 800

Symposia speakers are among more than 800 guests invited to a gala dinner in the Mullins Center beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday. Invitations were issued to major donors, significant volunteers, prominent alumni, government and community officials, deans and senior administrators, faculty involved with inaugural planning, student government leaders and Lombardi family and friends, said university news director Barbara Pitoniak.

The UMass Studio Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Holmes, will perform at the dinner. The group of 41 musicians recently was among 12 collegiate orchestras chosen from hundreds of applicants to perform in Toronto, Canada, for the conference of the International Association of Jazz Educators.

Speakers at the dinner include UMass President William Bulger, Alumni Association president Jess Kane, former IBM executive John Armstrong of Amherst, who is a longtime donor to UMass, and student trustee William Powers. Lombardi will also speak.

The dinner and all other inaugural expenses are financed by private contributions. UMass has raised more than $268,000 for the events, including $35,000 seed money for a new Chancellor's Merit Scholarship program. Lombardi is expected to announce details of the new student financial program soon.

The inaugural ceremonies

The inaugural ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. in the Mullins Center Friday. More than 3,000 people are expected to attend. The event is open to the public.

Chancellor Lombardi will deliver his inaugural address after being installed by Bulger and Grace K. Fey, trustee chairwoman.

John W. Ryan, president emeritus of Indiana University, where Lombardi taught and served in the administration for 20 years, also will speak.

"He is a leader in international education among many other things, and has been a driving force in the development of a number of international consortia and international institution building projects," Lombardi said. "I met John Ryan when I joined Indiana University in 1967, and he has served as friend and mentor for me ever since."

Ryan is a former UMass Boston chancellor and also worked on the Amherst campus, Lombardi said.

Another speaker is long-time Lombardi friend, German Carrera Damas, former ambassador to Mexico, Colombia, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. "He is a very well known historian from Venezuela with a stellar international presence," Lombardi said, describing Carrera Damas as one of Latin America's premier intellectuals. He currently teaches at Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Provost Charlena Seymour will preside at the ceremonies and representatives of the faculty, staff and students will bring greetings as part of the program.

A reception will follow the ceremony in the Mullins Center concourse.

Lombardi became UMass Amherst chancellor on July 1, 2002. After serving as University of Florida president for nine years, he became director of the Center for Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences on the Gainesville campus. Prior to his work in Florida, Lombardi was provost at Johns Hopkins University.

Cheryl B. Wilson can be reached at cwilson@gazettenet.com.