Inauguration Ceremony Program

Adopted at the chartering of Boston University, the seal was designed by William Fairfield Warren, who became the University’s first President. It consists of a view of Boston and the harbor, similar to that displayed on the seal of the City of Boston. This scene is imposed on a Roman cross, only the tips of which are visible. The design is enclosed by a circular legend. Since its adoption, the seal has undergone minor modifications.

The mace was originally a weapon of war; heavy, often with a spiked metal head, it was designed to damage an opponent’s armor. It has evolved into a symbol of institutional authority. The academic mace, representing the authority of the university, is carried at the front of formal academic processions.

The Boston University mace was also designed in the 1980s by Dr. Metcalf. It is fashioned of sterling silver and has two University seals intertwined on the button end. In today’s ceremony, it is borne by the University Marshal, Gregory Stoller, Master Lecturer in the Questrom School of Business.

Ahmass Fakahany (Questrom’79) is the founder and CEO of Manhattan-based Altamarea Group and has served as the Chair of the Boston University Board of Trustees since September 2022.

Robert Allan Hill is the Dean of Marsh Chapel and a Professor of New Testament and Pastoral Theology at Boston University. Dean Hill’s religious leadership at BU is rooted and grounded in the historic pulpit of Marsh Chapel where he preaches most Sundays. In addition, he gives oversight to all University religious life (7 University Chaplains, 26 religious life groups, and 22 campus ministers), provides prayers for various University events, and guides pastoral care for the community, through the chaplains’ offices. 

Cynthia Cohen (MET’77) is a career consultant and the founder and chief strategist of IMPACT 2040, a strategy firm focused on start-ups and emerging-growth companies innovating and disrupting their markets. She joined the Board of Trustees in 2018, and she has supported several BU initiatives, including the creation of the Innovation Pathway, which guides BU students to funding and other resources to support their entrepreneurial projects. The Cynthia Cohen Scholarship Fund supports women students studying at the Questrom School of Business.

Maura Healey is the 73rd Governor of Massachusetts. In 2022, she became the state’s first woman and first openly LGBTQ person elected to the position.  

Michelle Wu is the first woman and first person of color to be elected Mayor of Boston. The daughter of immigrants, a Boston Public Schools mom, and an MBTA rider, Mayor Wu believes that the key to solving our deepest challenges lies in building community and embracing possibility.

Thomas F. Rosenbaum is the ninth president of the California Institute of Technology and Professor of Physics. He is an expert on the quantum mechanical nature of materials, conducting research at Bell Laboratories, IBM Watson Research Center, and the University of Chicago, where he served as Vice President for Research and for Argonne National Laboratory and then provost, before moving to Caltech in 2014.

Dr. Jenny Gruber (ENG’99,’99) graduated from BU with a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering. She currently works on the Artemis Campaign, which aims to return humans to the moon–this time to stay and prepare for human exploration of Mars. She currently serves as the Chief of the Programmatics and Operations Branch, whose members contribute to systems engineering and integration for the Moon to Mars Program Office.

Kevin Smith is a Professor of Physics and Professor of Chemistry at BU. His research program focuses on the soft x-ray spectroscopic study of the surface and bulk electronic structure of novel materials. He has co-authored over 145 publications and has delivered 140 invited talks.

Aside from his research accomplishments, Kevin Smith is a prize winning teacher, having been awarded the Boston University Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 1999, and was named the Massachusetts Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2001.

Meghan Chaisson (Questrom’20) is the Associate Director of Data Analytics on the Continuous Improvement & Data Analysis team within Financial Affairs and has been a staff member at BU for nearly 7 years. Chaisson completed her MBA at BU in 2020.

Akwasi Antwi is currently serving as BU’s Student-Body President while pursuing a degree in Philosophy. He has spent the last year with Wolf & Company P.C. as a Compliance Intern and has future plans to attend law school.

Antoinette “Tonie” Leatherberry (ENG’85) was selected by the Board of Trustees to chair the Search Committee. She now Chairs the Governance Committee. Leatherberry, who joined the Board of Trustees in 2020, has held senior roles at Digital Equipment Corporation and Deloitte & Touche. At BU, she has served on the University Advisory Board, the College of Engineering Advisory Board, and the Black Alumni Leadership Council. 

Malek Sukkar (ENG’92), who lives in Dubai, became BU’s first trustee vice chair who is not based in the United States when he was appointed in 2022. The CEO of Dubai-based Averda, the largest sustainable environmental solutions provider in the Middle East and North Africa, Sukkar is also an avid art collector and the founder and director of Quanon Capital, a London-based, single-family office investment company.

Robert Brown is president emeritus of Boston University, a professor of engineering, and a professor in the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences. As a researcher in the field of engineering, his main area of interest is mathematical modeling of transport phenomena in materials, and he has published more than 250 papers on various topics. Professor Brown served as president of Boston University from 2005 to 2023.

The collar is a chain of repeating decorative links. Such collars were often worn in the Middle Ages as a badge of office. The Boston University collar, symbolizing the office of the President, is composed of the University seal alternating with the letters BU; a larger seal is suspended from it. The collar was designed in the 1980s by the late Dr. Arthur G. B. Metcalf, alumnus, Associate Founder of the University, and Chair Emeritus of the Board of Trustees.

The chair originally belonged to Isaac Rich, a successful ninteenth-century businessman who was one of the three Founders of the University. It sat in a prominent place in the library of his Beacon Street home. Originally, a tablet was attached to the right arm of the chair to serve as a writing surface. Rich’s friends Lee Claflin and Jacob Sleeper met with him one evening in March, 1869. The three men sat in the chair in turn and signed the application for the charter of Boston University. The Massachusetts legislature approved their petition, officially establishing the University. Since then, the chair has been used in presidential inaugurations.

Melissa Gilliam began as the 11th president of BU on July 1, 2024.

For her full bio, please visit the Office of the President website.

Robert Pinsky has been a member of the BU faculty since 1988 and was named a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor in 2015, the highest honor bestowed upon faculty members who are actively involved in teaching, research, scholarship, and university civic life.

During Pinsky’s tenure as Poet Laureate of the United States, from 1997-2000, he created the Favorite Poem Project to document, promote, and celebrate poetry’s place in American culture.

Today, Pinsky’s will deliver A Reflection in Poetry.