With great expectations Cornell will officially enter "the Skorton era" on Sept. 7. In a lively and colorful ceremony on the Arts Quad, David J. Skorton will be inaugurated as Cornell's 12th president.

The historic day's events will include an address by the university's new leader, performances by international music groups and the reading of a poem by Alice Fulton, the Ann S. Bowers Professor of English. They will conclude with a concert by Simon Shaheen, the Palestinian-born oud and violin virtuoso and composer. The celebration will be preceded on Sept. 6 with an academic symposium in the refurbished Bailey Hall with guest speaker Robert Kagan, a best-selling author and senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Skorton, who once supported himself as a jazz saxophonist in Chicago, is a cardiologist and a leader in research ethics and was previously president of the University of Iowa. He also holds faculty appointments in Biomedical Engineering in Cornell's College of Engineering and in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Since starting his presidency July 1, he already has outlined several key priorities for the university, among them: promoting educational diversity and placing more emphasis on both undergraduate education and the arts and humanities at Cornell.

The Sept. 7 installation ceremonies start with a formal procession at 3 p.m. as deans, delegates from other institutions and faculty in ceremonial regalia walk from Ho Plaza to the Arts Quad. There, a colorful and even inspirational installation ceremony will take place on a central stage, facing seating for more than 3,000, in front of the statue of Ezra Cornell, between McGraw and Morrill Halls.

The ceremony will begin at 3:30 p.m., with a welcome and introductions by Peter C. Meinig, chairman of the Cornell Board of Trustees, followed by remarks from Provost Biddy Martin and from Antonio M. Gotto Jr., the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Medical College of Cornell in New York City. Then, the inaugural address will be given by David Feldshuh, like Skorton, a medical doctor, an educator and advocate for the arts and humanities. He is a professor of theater arts and artistic director of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

Feldshuh's speech will be followed by the investiture of the new president by Meinig. Skorton will then deliver his inaugural address.

The installation ceremony will be followed by an outdoor reception with music and food. If it rains, the festivities will take place in Barton Hall. That evening at 9 p.m. in Bailey Hall, Cornellians can enjoy the exotic tunes of Shaheen, whose work combines more traditional Arabic sounds with jazz and Western classical styles. The concert is free and open to the public, although tickets are required and seating is limited.

The opening event of the inauguration celebration will be Sept. 6 at 4:30 p.m. with a public academic symposium in Bailey Hall. Kagan and other participants will explore the relationship between culture, identity and conflict and will delve into the significance of cultural allegiances and formations in world affairs. Other speakers will include Provost Biddy Martin, Peter J. Katzenstein, the W.S. Carpenter Jr. Professor of International Studies, and Isabel Hull, the John Stambaugh Professor of History.

Both the symposium and the inauguration ceremony will be webcast live. Visit www.cornell.edu on the day of the event for a link to the webcast.