Carol Quillen introduces herself at a Davidson ceremony Thursday. (Bill Giduz photo)

Davidson College will inaugurate Carol Quillen as its 18th president at an afternoon ceremony Tuesday, Oct. 18, inside Belk Arena. The event had been planned for the college front lawn, but with rain likely college officials decided to move it indoors.

Trustees will be in town for the ceremony, which will include an academic procession, and an inaugural address by President Quillen. The ceremony begins at 2:30 p.m.

Trustees elected President Quillen in May. She is Davidson’s first woman president and the first president who is not a Davidson graduate since John Cunningham (1941-57). She took up the job Aug. 1.

A historian with degrees from the University of Chicago (B.A. American history) and Princeton (PhD European history), she came to Davidson from Rice University, where had serve as a vice president for international and interdisciplinary initiatives and vice provost. She is a Presbyterian who grew up in New Castle, Del., and attended Quaker schools.

She replaced Tom Ross, who left last December to become president of the 17-campus University of North Carolina system. Former Davidson College president John Kuykendall served as interim president while a committee searched for a new president.

RELATED LINKS

Davidson.edu biography of Carol Quillen

May 26, 2011, DavidsonNews.net, “Davidson College picks Quillen as its 18th president.”

See all previous coverage of Carol Quillen on DavidsonNews.net

Sept. 15, 2011, CharlotteViewpoint.org, “A case for liberal education: CV talks with Carol Quillen.” – An interview with the new president by Alex Gregor, a Davidson grad and former staff writer for DavidsonNews.net.