Investiture ceremony set for President Davies

Central Michigan University will formally install Robert O. Davies as its 15th president at 2 p.m. March 19 in Warriner Hall's Plachta Auditorium.

The investiture of a university president is a long-held academic tradition that calls on a board of trustees to formally invest the authority of the office in the new leader and turn over possession of the presidential medallion and regalia.

The public is invited to the investiture ceremony and the reception that follows it, from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Grawn Hall Atrium.

All CMU deans and faculty members are invited to participate in the ceremony, either in the procession or in the audience. Full details, from participation to sending a congratulatory note, are available online. The ceremony also will be streamed live.

The advisory committee that was charged with finding a successor to President George E. Ross, who stepped down last July, was guided by a leadership profile developed with input from the university community. Faculty, staff and students who read the profile said the committee had "nailed it" in describing the president they hoped to find.

"But I believe it is President Davies who has nailed it," said Board Chair Tricia Keith, who led the search advisory committee. "He has charted for us a course of rigor, relevance and excellence. This path will grow CMU's reputation and its enrollment. It will expand our impact on students, as well as on Michigan residents, communities and businesses."

Davies' path to CMU

Central's Board of Trustees appointed Davies on Aug. 3, 2018. He started his tenure on Sept. 1.

Before coming to CMU, Davies had been president of Murray State University in Kentucky since 2014. He also had served as president of Eastern Oregon University and vice president for university relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and had held alumni relations and development positions at The State University of New York at Buffalo, Boise State University, and the University of Nevada, Reno.

Davies earned his Ph.D. in higher education administration from The State University of New York at Buffalo, his MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Oregon, and a Bachelor of Science in management from the University of Nevada, Reno. He also has completed two seminars for university presidents at Harvard University.

Davies and his wife, Cindy, have one daughter, Katie, who will attend CMU in the fall.