Inauguration of President Zimmer Friday, Oct. 27: Festivities on campus to bring community together to celebrate

A special convocation will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27, in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel to inaugurate Robert Zimmer as the 13th President of the University.

A procession beginning at the Henry Crown Field House at 9:45 a.m. will precede the convocation. The University Pipe Band will lead members of the faculty, trustees, officers, honorary degree recipients and their sponsors, as well as delegates from colleges, universities and learned societies, as they walk to Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Marchers will be dressed in the multihued academic attire of several dozen of the world’s universities.

Seating in the chapel is by invitation, but members of the campus community may watch the procession and ceremony live on remote broadcasts in Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. or the Max Palevsky Cinema in Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St. As an additional viewing alternative, a live Webcast will be offered through a link on the University’s home page at http://www.uchicago.edu.

After his inaugural address, Zimmer will confer honorary degrees on seven distinguished scholars. The recipients are:

Doctor of Science

Sandra Faber, University Professor and Chair, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz

Doctor of Humane Letters

Michael Fried, James R. Herbert Boone Professor of Humanities and Art History, Johns Hopkins University

Doctor of Science

Alex Lubotzky, Professor of Mathematics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Doctor of Science

Hazel Markus, Davis Brack Professor in Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University

Doctor of Humane Letters

Harm Pinkster, Professor of Latin, University of Amsterdam

Doctor of Science

Allan Spradling, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Director, Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Doctor of Science

Karen Strier, Hilldale Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Following the convocation, members of the University community are welcome to attend an all-campus inaugural celebration beginning at 1 p.m. on the Main Quadrangles. Picnic fare will be served in tents throughout the quadrangles and will include vegan and vegetarian foods.

Entertainment will be provided for guests on stages located near Eckhart Hall, Harper Memorial Library and the Administration Building, and will include performances by Ransom Notes, Golden Quartet, Chicago Men’s A Cappella, Unaccompanied Women, University Ballet and JELLY. Many of the University’s students and faculty and staff members comprise the various groups that will be performing. The all-campus celebration will conclude at 4 p.m.

Classes will be held the day of the inauguration and residence hall dining facilities will operate on their regular schedules, with the exception of Bartlett Dining Commons. Bartlett will be closed for breakfast and lunch for a luncheon honoring Zimmer and his wife, Terese, and the honorary degree recipients. Bartlett will reopen for dinner at 5:30 p.m.

On-campus parking will be limited because of the inauguration activities.

The no-parking areas for Friday, Oct. 27 include the following:

• University Avenue — east side from 58th Street to 59th Street
• University Avenue — west side from 55th Street to 57th Street
• 59th Street — north side from Woodlawn Avenue to Ellis Avenue
• 59th Street — north and south sides from Kimbark Avenue to Woodlawn Avenue
• Woodlawn Avenue — east and west side from 58th Street south to 59th Street

In addition to the campus community festivities, University trustees, honorary degree recipients and members of the Chicago Society, a community of philanthropic leaders, will celebrate Zimmer’s presidential appointment at a special dinner on Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Field Museum.

Previous inaugural events included a civic dinner held on Navy Pier, where Chicago’s civic leaders met and honored the Zimmers.

Zimmer, who taught at Chicago for more than two decades and who served in several administrative capacities before becoming Provost of Brown University in 2002, was elected the University’s 13th President on Friday, March 10.

He began his term of office at Chicago on Saturday, July 1. Zimmer also is Professor in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences Collegiate Division.