Elder Cecil O. Samuelson of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be installed as BYU's 12th president during a devotional assembly Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 11 a.m. in the Marriott Center.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ and chair of the BYU Board of Trustees, will install and charge the president. He will conduct the inauguration as well as speak.
Also in attendance will be President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust of the First Presidency, members of the BYU Board of Trustees, outgoing president Merrill J. Bateman and other general authorities.
President Samuelson succeeds President Bateman, who has returned to Church service as a member of the Quorum of the Seventy after nearly eight years as BYU president.
Two thousand chair seats--including half of the playing floor and the lower southeast corner of the Marriott Center below the concourse--will be reserved for full-time BYU personnel, who should use portals C, D, E, F and G to enter the Marriott Center. There will be no public entry through the elevator tunnel. No tickets will be distributed, and the seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Those attending should be in their seats by 10:45 a.m. For this event, there will be no saving of seats.
A map of the faculty and staff seating area is available at http://byunews.byu.edu/seating-map.pdf.
An academic processional will include those seated on the stand in academic regalia. (Faculty will not be wearing academic regalia.) There will be no traditional academic processional with delegates from other universities, learned societies and faculty members.
Faculty members will dismiss their 10 a.m. classes that day at 10:30 a.m., and noon classes will begin 20 minutes after the benediction.
The inauguration will also be available for viewing in the Joseph Smith Auditorium and will be broadcast on KBYU-TV (Channel 11), KBYU-FM (89.1) and the BYU-Television satellite network. It will be rebroadcast on BYU-Radio on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. and on KBYU-FM (89.1) at 8 p.m. It will also be rebroadcast on Sunday, Sept. 21, on KBYU-TV (Channel 11) at 6 and 11 a.m. and on BYU-Television at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Greetings to the new president will be given by Brandie R. Siegfried, co-chair of the Faculty Advisory Council; Rulon J. Barlow, chair of the Administrative Advisory Council; David Johnson, president of the BYU Student Service Association; and Brent Romney, president of the BYU Alumni Association.
The BYU Philharmonic Orchestra and Combined Choirs under the direction of Kory Katseanes and Ronald J. Staheli will perform during the ceremonies, with organ prelude and postlude provided by organist Douglas E. Bush and carillonneur Don Cook.
President and Sister Samuelson will greet the campus community during a faculty/staff reception at the Museum of Art from 4 to 6 p.m.
This new inauguration format—developed under the direction of President Gordon B. Hinckley and the BYU Board of Trustees—is simple, cost-effective and stays within the one-hour devotional period while still honoring the dignity of installing a new president.
A well-respected physician, teacher, researcher, businessman and Church leader, President Samuelson received his bachelor's degree in molecular and genetic biology, his master's degree in educational psychology and his M.D. degree from the University of Utah. He completed an internship, residency and medical fellowship at Duke University Medical Center.
He joined the faculty of the University of Utah College of Medicine in 1973 and became dean of the School of Medicine in 1985. He also served as vice president for Health Sciences at the University of Utah.
In 1980 he was named senior vice president of Intermountain Health Care and in 1993 was appointed president of IHC Hospitals.
After a lifetime of service in the Church as a high councilor, branch president, stake president and regional representative, President Samuelson was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy of the Church in 1994. He has served as president of the Europe North Area, president of the Utah North Area, Sunday School General President and as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.
He has been serving as BYU's president since May 1, 2003.
The 62-year-old president was described by President Hinckley as "charming in his personality, meticulous in his science, a man of great acumen in administrative affairs.
"He takes a back seat to no one, and yet there is nothing of pride or arrogance in his manner. I am confident that he will win a place in every heart," said President Hinckley. "His wife, Sharon, is a beautiful lady of charm and grace and capacity who will add much to the spirit of this great university."
Writer: Cecelia Fielding
