Springfield, Ohio – Following a celebratory week featuring a number of student-centered, mission-inspired activities, Wittenberg University will formally install President Laurie M. Joyner during the Inauguration ceremony at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Center, 250 Bill Edwards Drive.

Joining members of the Wittenberg community at the Inauguration will be nearly 60 delegates representing institutions of higher education, including the University of Cambridge, founded in 1231. Representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), current and emeriti members of the Wittenberg Board of Directors, students, faculty, staff, civic officials, members of the university’s Alumni Board and other distinguished guests will also be in attendance.

The ceremony will reflect Wittenberg’s mission and Lutheran heritage with performances by the Wittenberg Choir and IMANI Gospel Choir, and in a special series of greetings from representatives of the campus, the church and the university’s sister city of Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany.  A number of Joyner’s colleagues and mentors will also participate in the ceremony, including The Rev. Charles L. Currie, S.J., a national higher education leader, and Lewis M. Duncan, Ph.D., president of Rollins College, Joyner’s previous institution. Following the official installation portion of the ceremony, Joyner will present her inaugural address after which the entire assembly will join in singing the university’s Alma Mater.

The event will be streamed live beginning at 3 p.m. at www.wittenberg.edu, and an official inauguration website will include full coverage of this historic moment in the life of the university. A reception will follow the ceremony in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Center.

Wittenberg officially welcomed Joyner as the university’s 14th president on July 1, 2012.  Prior to joining Wittenberg, Joyner served as vice president for planning and dean of the college at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where she was responsible for institution-wide strategic planning and served as senior student affairs officer, including responsibility for athletics. She also co-chaired the college-wide budget committee, oversaw high-impact educational practices, and led the comprehensive student success initiative.

While at Rollins, Joyner served as interim vice president for academic affairs and provost, where she exercised administrative oversight of academic deans, 400 faculty and staff members, and an operating budget of nearly $50 million.  From 2007 until 2010, Joyner was dean of the faculty and professor of sociology at Rollins, and prior to Rollins, she held a variety of positions at Loyola University New Orleans including faculty leadership roles on the Academic and Faculty Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees and University Senate Executive Council, to administrative roles such as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

A magna cum laude graduate and recipient of the Dux Sociologicus Award from Loyola University New Orleans, Joyner earned her master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from Tulane University. Throughout her academic and administrative career, a consistent priority has been linking the academy to diverse communities in ways that deepen student, faculty, and staff learning while addressing pressing community needs.

Founded in 1845, Wittenberg University is a nationally ranked liberal arts university dedicated to intellectual inquiry and wholeness of person within a diverse residential community. Reflecting its Lutheran heritage, Wittenberg challenges students to become responsible global citizens, to discover their callings, and to lead personal, professional and civic lives of creativity, service, compassion and integrity.