Tilghman installed as 19th president in stately ceremony, evening gala

In a ceremony on the front lawn of Nassau Hall, molecular biology professor and former director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics Shirley M. Tilghman was installed Friday as the University's 19th president.

The Princeton and American flags swayed in the breeze to the music of the University orchestra as Tilghman assumed her place in a stately wooden chair on the steps of Nassau Hall, surrounded by her colleagues and past presidents Harold Shapiro GS '64, William Bowen GS '58 and Robert Goheen '40.

After an invocation delivered by University trustee Frederick Borsch '57, various representatives of the University's community offered Tilghman their well wishes and support for her term in the University's highest office.

As the crowded audience of University students, faculty, alumni and friends listened attentively, Tilghman delivered a speech she modified to address the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the issues foremost on her mind after that fateful day.

In light of President Bush's recent declaration of war on international terrorism and the enormous challenges and uncertainty ahead, Tilghman addressed the issues of the University's proper role in the national crisis and how the academy can contribute as the country seeks "the honorable path to worldwide justice and to peace."

"Today the academy holds a highly privileged place in American society because of a long-standing national consensus about the value of education," she said from the podium.

Tilghman highlighted the enormity of financial resources and faith that institutions and individuals place in the country's higher education system.

"That faith is based on a conviction that the vitality of the United States, its creative and diverse cultural life, its staggeringly inventive economy, its national security and the robustness of its democratic institutions owe much to the quality of its institutions of higher education," she said.

Calling to mind the inspired words of her presidential predecessors Harold Dodds GS '14 and Woodrow Wilson 1879, Tilghman outlined the University's obligations to society: "The generation of new ideas and the discovery of new knowledge, the exploration of complex issues in an open and collegial manner and the preparation of the next generation of citizens and leaders."

"In times of trouble," she said, "it is especially important that we live up to these expectations."Elaborating on these obligations, Tilghman stressed the University's need to encourage the free generation and exchange of knowledge, to protect an open forum for the debate of controversial ideas, and therein, to uphold the country's underlying belief in freedom and democracy.

"American universities have been granted broad latitude not only to disseminate knowledge, but to be the home of free exchange of ideas, where even the rights of those who express views repugnant to the majority are vigorously protected," she said.

"Defending academic freedom of speech is not particularly difficult in times of peace and prosperity," Tilghman continued. "It is in times of national crisis that our true commitment to freedom of speech and thought is tested. History will judge us in the weeks and months ahead by our capacity to sustain civil discourse in the face of deep disagreement, for we are certain to disagree with one another."

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Tilghman devoted her closing remarks to reinforcing the importance of the pressing task facing Princeton faculty, students and alumni in an international community rocked by a harrowing threat to peace and security.

"If we do our job well as educators, each of our students will take from a Princeton education a respect and appreciation for ideas and values, intellectual openness and rigor, practice in civil discourse and a sense of civic responsibility," she said. "During these troubled times, our students and our alumni will be called upon to exercise these qualities in their professions, their communities and their daily lives.

"By so doing, and through their leadership, their vision and their courage, they will help to fulfill Princeton's obligation to society and bring true meaning to our motto, 'Princeton in the nation's service and in the service of all nations.' "

The ceremony concluded with a traditional round of 'Old Nassau' as the recessional headed to Weaver Track and Jadwin Gym for a night of dinner and dancing.

As Tilghman walked off stage, the audience provided her with a final standing ovation, showing its faith in the president charged with the formidable task of leading an old University into a new and different world.