Colgate University inaugurates Casey as school’s 17th president

HAMILTON, N.Y. — Colgate University inaugurated Brian Casey as its 17th president in a Sept. 30 ceremony that the school called “the highlight of a weeklong celebration of Colgate.”

“I can think of no greater calling than to be one more person on this campus, longing to advance knowledge, to perpetuate it to posterity, and with this faculty, this administration, this board, to alter the world with the power of our ideas,” Casey said in his remarks.

He addressed those gathered for the ceremony in the school’s Memorial Chapel. The school provided excerpts of Casey’s remarks in a news release issued Monday.

In the days leading up to the inauguration ceremony, professors, students, alumni, and friends gathered for panel conversations on the university’s history; developing community leaders; and the current state of communications and media, the school said.

Casey began his duties on July 1 after the school announced his selection in August 2015.

Colgate had formed a search committee in February 2015 after Jeffrey Herbst, the school’s former president, announced he would step down at the end of June 2015.

Casey follows Jill Harsin, who served as Colgate’s interim president for the 2015-16 academic year.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Casey earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and economics at Notre Dame. He received his law degree from Stanford.

After beginning his career as an attorney with New York City–based Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Casey earned his doctor of philosophy degree in the history of American civilization from Harvard.

After serving in the administrations of Harvard University and Brown University, Casey was chosen as the 19th president of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, a position he held from 2008 to 2016.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com