Cornell College to inaugurate President Jonathan Brand Saturday

Cornell College will inaugurate President Jonathan Brand Saturday, with a slate of weekend events that highlight student achievements and the college's campus.

Brand began as Cornell's 15th president in July 2011. His installation will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday in Cornell's King Chapel.

Brand holds a law degree from Cornell University, a master's degree in French literature from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor's degree in history and French from the University of Wisconsin. Before coming to Cornell, he served as president of Doane College in Crete, Neb., for six years.

The ceremony will be preceded by the 16th annual Student Symposium. The symposium is the most prestigious academic event of the year, and students present their original research in sessions and poster presentations in the Thomas Commons. The symposium will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This year more than 50 students will give oral presentations and more than 30 will give poster presentations.

Immediately following the inauguration ceremony there will be a student organization street fair on the Pedestrian Mall and a reception in Kimmel Theatre. The schedule for the weekend also includes two performances of the play “Defying Gravity;” a softball game against Loras College; choral and orchestral concerts; and a community tree planting in Memorial Park in uptown Mount Vernon.

A complete schedule of events is available at http://www.cornellcollege.edu/inauguration/index.shtml

The ceremony and all the weekend events are open to the public. The college asks people interested in attending to RSVP at http://www.cornellcollege.edu/inauguration/RSVP-forms/rsvp-form.shtml.

For those unable to attend the event, the college will live-stream the installation ceremony at

http://news.cornellcollege.edu/streaming-video/.