Provost's Remarks
Fall 2009 Convocation
October 2, 2009: I am not blind, of course, to our economic circumstances, and it is certainly true that before the country, the state, and the university were so negatively impacted by the economic downturn UNF seemed to be growing in a very exciting and positive way. But as exciting as that growth may have been, and as cautious as we might need to be as our growth resumes in the future, that future looks particularly bright to me because I believe we have, at long last, a clearly delineated destination and a means for determining how to get there.
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Center for Global Health and Medical Diplomacy
Caring Community Conference 
September 16, 2009: . The commitment that our university has made is to serve the North Florida region at a level of national quality, and through its leadership activities the Center for Global Health and Medical Diplomacy is certainly making a major contribution towards the fulfillment of UNF’s mission and purpose. Read full address
Summer 2009 Commencement
July 31, 2009: Do not stop dreaming about how the places, the institutions, and even the people whom you love can be helped or inspired to be even better than they already are. Do not let concerns about unavoidable constraints preempt you from defining the world you would construct if your power and your resources were unbounded. Read full address
Spring 2009 Commencement
April 24, 2009: I am hopeful that, like Odysseus and Leopold Bloom, if you spend your lives thinking deeply and acting nobly, you will create lives of great value both for yourself and others. Those of us who are remaining behind at UNF are depending upon you to do so. Your future and our mission are now in your hands. Read full address
Fall 2008 Commencement
December 12, 2008: At previous commencement ceremonies I have drawn inspiration for my remarks from a number of the world’s greatest poets, including Homer, Virgil, Dante, and John Donne. Today I would like to draw upon a contemporary American poet whom I know to be a favorite of President Delaney. While there is no doubt that the wisdom of the venerable poets I have just cited continues to have relevance to our current circumstances, it is equally the case that some of Bob Dylan’s most memorable lines also have an uncanny bearing on the world you are about to enter as UNF graduates. Read full address
Upbeat Pink Concert
October 12, 2008:
I am particularly pleased to be able to welcome you to this afternoon’s concert because this annual event stands out as one of the most special occasions of the year. I would like to suggest why this is so. On their surface, music and breast cancer would appear to have precious little to do with each other. Upon reflection, however, I believe that each informs and is illuminated by the other in genuinely profound ways. Read full address
Fall 2008 Convocation
September 19, 2008: I would like to echo President Delaney’s sentiments by expressing my own gratitude for the admirable dedication and fine achievement of our faculty, both those whom we are here to honor today as well as all those others whose talents and accomplishments are no less deserving of acknowledgment and praise. And to those of you who are new to the university, I too would like to extend a warm welcome and, along with President Delaney, encourage you to take a long view of UNF’s current fiscal circumstances. We know with certainty that they will improve. Read full address
Summer 2008 Commencement
August 1, 2008: As UNF's chief academic officer it is my responsibility on behalf of my faculty colleagues to stand between our imminent graduates and their diplomas while I subject them to what might be the final lecture of their academic careers. Read full address
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 full address
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 full address
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 full address
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 full address
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 full address
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 full address
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 full address
Spring 2007 Student Award Convocation
May 4, 2007: I too wish to extend my congratulations to the student award winners assembled here today. Read full address
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 full address
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 full address