CLINTON, N.Y. — Hamilton College celebrated the formal inauguration of its 21st president, Steven Tepper, on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Tepper began his new role on July 1, joining Hamilton College from Arizona State University, where he served as dean and director of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
The Hamilton College Board of Trustees elected him in January following a nationwide search to fill the role after David Wippman retired as college president in June.
“Today is a beginning of our next phase as a college, but it is also an opportunity for all of us to think about beginnings, to embrace that spirit of possibility, to honor the power of higher education, and to reflect on what formal education has meant to all of us,” Tepper said during his inauguration address.
Hamilton College Board of Trustees Chairman David Solomon, in opening the ceremony, said the search committee was seeking many qualities including an accomplished scholar, gifted communicator, and engaged intellectual.
“We also wanted someone who was enthusiastic about Hamilton and wanted not just a college presidency, but this college presidency,” Solomon said. “In Steven Tepper, we have found the perfect person to serve as Hamilton’s 21st president. Steven brings abundant enthusiasm and seemingly boundless energy to his position.”
During the ceremony, Solomon presented Tepper with the original college charger issued on May 26, 1812, and the presidential medallion.
Tepper holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
With a 1,350-acre campus overlooking Clinton, Hamilton College educates more than 2,000 students.