Remarks on the occasion of Concord Academy’s 90th Anniversary Thank you, Rick, and thank you Ms. Mendelhall, who said I could call her Sylvia, but I can’t. She was a spectacular and wonderful teacher and advisor and it is such an honor to be introduced by her today. Thank you so much. It is a…
Making History: The Huntington Library and the Civil War
As delivered. I am honored to be here and to join the long and distinguished line of Founder’s Day speakers celebrating the birthday and the genius of Henry Edwards Huntington. My predecessors in this role have included an array of scholars, political leaders, museum and library directors, as well as, I discovered, a number of…
Scholarship and the Role of the University: Remarks at the Boston College Sesquicentennial
Thank you, Father Leahy, members of the faculty, students, friends, and distinguished guests. I am deeply honored to be with you today at Boston College to receive the Sesquicentennial Medal, and to celebrate this great university. I confess, I traveled the 5 miles from Cambridge to Chestnut Hill with some trepidation. A Mass for 20,000…
Remarks on Behalf of the Academic Community
As prepared for delivery The Inauguration of L. Rafael Reif, 17th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Thank you, Chairman Reed. It is an honor to be here today to extend warm greetings on behalf of colleges and universities throughout the nation and around the world. I come to you from just down the…
President Faust’s 2012 Welcome Letter to the Community
Dear Members of the Harvard Community: The calendar still says summer, and so far the canopy of leaves overarching the Yard offers just a few flecks of yellow, orange, and red. But the quickened tempo across campus says fall is here—and, with it, another year of institutional aspiration and, I hope, intellectual adventure. Welcome to…
2012 Remarks at Morning Prayers
Each fall since I was named president – and this is the sixth – I have spoken at the outset of the year at Morning Prayers. As I recall, almost every one of those days has been clear and crystalline – filled with light just beginning to slant with the promise of fall. And that…
Convocation Address to the Class of 2016
Welcome, Class of 2016. Here we are at last. And you look so calm and composed. I imagine there has also been a moment in the past few hectic days, maybe while you were introducing yourself to your entryway or gazing up at those enormous arching trusses in Annenberg, when you felt a few seconds…
2012 Commencement speech
With Commencement today, we close our year of commemorating Harvard’s 375th birthday. From an exuberant party for 18,000 in torrential rain and ankle-deep mud here in Tercentenary Theatre last fall to today’s invocation of John Harvard’s spirit still walking the Yard, we have celebrated this special year and this institution’s singular and distinguished history. Founded by…
2012 Remarks at ROTC Commissioning Ceremony
As delivered This has been an historic year. It is, of course, our 375th birthday. But as Lt. Col. Hall has noted, it has also been the year that ROTC returned to the Harvard campus. In September we opened the Naval ROTC office; in March, we cut the ribbon for the Army. I was especially moved…
2012 Baccalaureate Service: “The Updraft of Inexplicable Luck”
As prepared for delivery Greetings, Class of 2012. It is a privilege to be with you this afternoon, together one last time for this strange medieval rite called the Baccalaureate, where I am expected to impart a few final words of wisdom … and you are expected to make them go viral. But not before…