Dean Johnson Hosts Fall Convocation
Dean Kevin R. Johnson acted as host and emcee for the 2009 UC Davis Fall Convocation on September 23 at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Introducing speakers including new UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, Dean Johnson remarked on the chancellor's impressive background, her dedication to students and to the Law School, and the promise of the years ahead.
"The theme for today's convocation is ‘UC Davis' Sustainable and Transformative Second Century,'" Dean Johnson announced. "It is a most inspirational theme for an inspirational gathering."
Dean Johnson was given the honor of introducing Chancellor Katehi in what was the chancellor's first public address to the university community. The dean recounted the chancellor's remarkable personal story and how as a young woman on the small Greek island of Salamis, she dreamed of becoming an engineer after watching NASA technicians on television during the first lunar landing in 1969. "Her small island community had no library, nor did it have any women who had ever gone to college, until Linda Katehi did," he said.
Dean Johnson also recounted the chancellor's academic background, which includes a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from National Technical University of Athens and master's and doctoral degrees in the same subject from UCLA, and praised her status as "a nationally renowned educator, mentor, administrator, and electrical engineer." He also noted Chancellor Katehi's commitment to students, mentioning that she had attended the Law School's August barbeque welcoming the King Hall Class of 2012 despite an extremely tight schedule that required her to fly overnight to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the next morning.
"I am deeply grateful to her for this show of support for the Law School and our law students, and I know it meant a great deal to our first-year students and faculty to have her personally welcome them to campus," said the dean.
The event, which took place before an estimated audience of 1,500, also included remarks from Clare Hasler, executive director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, and Bob Powell, chairman of the Academic Senate, as well as well as musical performances by soprano Teresa Tam and the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra.
