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Occidental College to Inaugurate Theodore R. Mitchell As 12th President

The colorful 4:30 p.m. installation ceremony in the open-air Remsen Bird Hillside Theater on the Occidental campus will be preceded by a series of symposia, lectures, campus tours and performances by the Occidental Children’s Theater Workshop.

“Since its founding in 1887, Occidental has always defined its greatness as the pursuit of an education that supports civic engagement and service as part of the Occidental experience and as an expectation for life,” said Mitchell.

“With its location in one of the world’s great cities, its long tradition of service and its close ties to the community, Occidental is now poised to take a leadership role in redefining undergraduate education by creating a new synergy between education, research, and community involvement,” he said.

Mitchell, who succeeded retiring president John Brooks Slaughter on July 1, 1999, is a former vice president for education at The J. Paul Getty Trust, vice chancellor for academic planning and budget at UCLA, and deputy to the president and provost at Stanford University.

The recipient of a doctorate in education from Stanford, he has been a key player in the public school reform movement in Los Angeles as co-author of the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project and as advisor to Mayor Richard Riordan. He also has served as advisor to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on federal educational policy.

Among the day’s scheduled events are:

§ “Local Involvement: The Los Angeles River Project,” a symposium featuring Robert Gottlieb, Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy; Tim Brick, a director of the Arroyo Seco Foundation and member of the Metropolitan Water District Board; and Tim Ramirez, water policy and science advisor to the secretary of the California Resources Agency. (9:45 a.m.)

§ Presentation of the Occidental College Founder’s Day Award to Eli Broad, chairman and CEO of SunAmerica Inc. and one of Southern California’s most prominent civic and business leaders, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of Southern California. (11:30 a.m.)

§ “Los Angeles and the Global Economy,” a symposium featuring John W. Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League; J. Eugene Grigsby, UCLA professor of urban planning; Jane Jacquette, Bertha Harton Orr Professor in the Liberal Arts; and Woody Studenmund, Richard W. Millar Professor of Economics. (1:30 p.m.)

§ “The Campus and the Community: From Highland Park to Eagle Rock,” a lecture by Jan Lin, associate professor of sociology and director of the Northeast Los Angeles Community Outreach Partnership Center. (3 p.m.)

§ Performances of “Glooscap and the Baby” and “Paul Bunyan’s Perilous Pancake Breakfast” by the Occidental Children’s Theater Workshop. (3 p.m.)

Located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, Occidental College is a selective, nationally ranked college of the liberal arts and sciences. More than half of the college’s 1,550 students – who make up one of the country’s most diverse collegiate student bodies – are active in some form of educational or social outreach in the community.