Provost's Remarks

Spring 2008 Commencement

May 2, 2008: For all that you may have learned during the pursuit of your degrees at UNF, I am of the opinion that you arrived here at the start of your UNF academic careers with two essential characteristics to your credit more important than anything that your professors, no matter how inspiring, could instill in you. Every one of you about to graduate brought with you a strong imagination and an active curiosity. Read more

Spring 2008 Student Awards Convocation

May 2, 2008 10:00 am: Academic years have a lovely rhythm to them. They begin in the fall with a surge of energy; they conclude in the spring with a sigh of relief. A wonderful transition occurs over the course of the intervening nine months. Read more

Center for Global Health and Medical Diplomacy
Caring Community Conference Update

April 29, 2008: I would like to reflect just for a moment on the concept of a center. A center does not exist in isolation. Rather, a center requires that there be entities arrayed around it, whether they are in stasis or in motion. Without such encircling entities a center is merely a point in space. Read more

Fall 2007 Commencement

December 14, 2007: To those of you who are eager to exchange your identity as student for that of graduate, my exhortation to you is to continue to embrace the example of your faculty mentors, not because of anything they taught you but because of their inexhaustible desire to learn. Read more

Fall Reception to Honor Retiring Faculty

December 12, 2007: We are here this evening not just to wish you well in retirement, but more immediately to thank you for your extraordinary contributions to this university and to the countless students who you had the opportunity to educate over the past 35 years. Read more

Click here to view pictures from reception

Fall 2007 Convocation

September 7, 2007: I would like to begin by thanking both President Delaney and the chair of our dedicated Board of Trustees, Dr. Bruce Taylor, for endorsing the exciting initiative that we are about to embark upon, and for committing themselves to embracing what I trust will be the percipient and farsighted recommendations that should emanate from the work of the special task force. I am honored to lead this important effort; I do so with the conviction that, working together, we have an opportunity to focus the university’s energy for years to come. Read more

Summer 2007 Commencement

August 10, 2007: It is my pleasure to extend greetings to the graduates, their families, and friends. As a professor of English I have long been intrigued by the subject of narrative structure, or how a story moves from its beginning, through its middle, to what, in the most satisfying narratives, seems to be its inevitable end. Read more

Spring 2007 Student Award Convocation

May 4, 2007: I too wish to extend my congratulations to the student award winners assembled here today. Read more

Virginia Tech Vigil

April 18, 2007: I would like to extend my personal condolences to those of you here who have a direct connection to Virginia Tech. Read more

An Evening with Henri Landwirth

January 6, 2007: Over the December holiday I traveled with my wife and children to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. Read more