Cornell chooses doctor to be 12th president

Trustees at Cornell University appointed David Skorton the school's new president at a Jan. 21 meeting.

When Skorton takes over July 1 of this year, he will be the school's 12th president since its founding in 1865. He replaces Jeffrey Lehman, who stepped down last June.

For the past three years, Skorton has been president of the University of Iowa. He began his career in education as an assistant professor at that school in 1981.

Hunter Rawlings, a former Cornell president who is holding the post in the interim, will help Skorton with the transition.

According to a Cornell press release, Skorton is "a cardiologist, national leader in research ethics and musician." He will also teach internal medicine and pediatrics at Cornell's medical school in New York City, as well as biomedical engineering at Cornell's Ithaca, N.Y., campus.

Cornell spokesman Joe Schwartz said Skorton was the ideal candidate for the job.

"There was an opportunity statement that the Board of Trustees drew up that would outline the talent and qualifications the next president should have, and Dr. Skorton's resume -- it was almost like reading the opportunity statement," Schwartz said.

He added that Skorton is not expected to present any specific ideas or goals for Cornell immediately.

"At this point he's basically in the transition phase," he said.

Steve Parrott, a University of Iowa spokesman, said that while president there, Skorton maintained his goals for the university despite lagging state funding.

"He managed to keep focus on the core academic mission, especially the undergraduate mission and especially making sure that our library didn't suffer," Skorton said.

Parrott said Skorton is a particularly skilled administrator.

"He made a special emphasis on shared governance, making sure that faculty, staff and students participated in the major decisions," Parrott said.

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