[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 123 (Monday, October 4, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE INAUGURATION OF A NEW PRESIDENT AT MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE

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                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 4, 2004

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I recognize 
the October 10th inauguration of Dr. Ronald D. Liebowitz as the 
sixteenth president of Middlebury College. Middlebury is one of the 
nation's finest liberal arts colleges. We in Vermont are proud that we 
have, in our midst, a beacon of learning for students all across the 
nation.
  Dr. Liebowitz was chosen as Middlebury's forthcoming president after 
a five-month search during which 400 prospective candidates were 
reviewed. Despite the fact that the prestigious position attracted many 
of the nation's foremost educators, Middlebury selected one of its own, 
the third time it has chosen a member of its faculty to head the 
institution. His able predecessor, John McCardell, was also a longtime 
faculty member when he became president in 1992, and Dr. McCardell's 
thirteen-year leadership has amply confirmed Middlebury College's 
confidence that its own faculty have some of the finest minds and some 
of the most humane administrative abilities that can be found in the 
entire nation.
  A professor of geography, Dr. Liebowitz is a widely recognized 
authority on Russian economic and political geography. Dr. Liebowitz 
has served as provost and executive vice president of Middlebury 
College since 1997. Earlier, he served for two years as dean of the 
faculty. During his administrative years he played a significant 
leadership role in the internationalization of the curriculum, 
including the introduction of innovative interdisciplinary, team-taught 
senior seminars in international studies, the establishment of a new 
major in international studies, and the strengthening of the program in 
international politics and economics.
  We in Vermont welcome his leadership as he shepherds this outstanding 
college into the future. We look forward to a rich partnership as 
Middlebury brings its student and faculty resources to bear on helping 
us address Vermont's, and the nation's, problems and priorities. And in 
these difficult times, we have confidence that Middlebury's long-
standing choice to focus on international affairs will educate yet more 
generations of students to look outward, to recognize that they have a 
dual obligation: to work for domestic justice by helping those in 
America who are less fortunate than themselves, and to work for 
international justice by giving support to foreign nations as they 
attempt to realize social justice for their own citizens.

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