There were no day-one jitters on display as Richard Florizone greeted members of the Dal community for the first time as the university’s 11th president.
That’s probably not surprising: after all, while Monday was Dr. Florizone’s first official day on the job, he’s been a familiar face on campus for more than a month now, much of it personally shadowing Tom Traves while preparing for his own presidency.
“I’m just as excited as I was last fall when I took the position,” he told the crowd gathered in the Henry Hicks Building lobby for an afternoon social. Staff from the University Club served cupcakes and lemonade while Dr. Florizone made the rounds, talking to as many of the attendees as possible.
Dr. Florizone was formally introduced by Jim Spatz, chair of Dal’s Board of Governors and who also chaired the presidential search committee. Spatz said the committee was impressed to come across someone with Dr. Florizone’s diverse background, bridging an understanding of university culture with an eye towards opportunities and challenges coming from outside the institution.
“Those of you who’ve gotten to know Richard likely share the same impression that our search party had of him: smart, witty, intuitive,” said Dr. Spatz. “He is as great a listener as he is a spokesperson and advocate for the university and its mission of teaching, research and community service.”
A "great welcome"
Dr. Florizone shared some of his thinking behind the 100 Days of Listening, a series of formal and informal opportunities for the Dal community to come together and start to map a vision for the university’s future.
“I really believe that good vision and strategy comes both bottom-up and top-down,” he said. “The bottom-up part is to really listen to the community, to understand hopes, dreams, aspirations and the facts. Then the job of the VPs, deans, the rest of the executive team is to try and synthesize that, to guide what our direction is.”
Learn more: 100 Days of Listening website - have your say
Along with his wife, Mona, and daughters Zoë and Elinor, he thanked the crowd and everyone at Dal for their warm reception.
“It’s just another example of the great welcome my family and I have received both at Dal and in Halifax and Nova Scotia in general.”
As for the rest of Dr. Florizone’s first day, it began with a live interview on CBC Radio’s Information Morning. Then, after meeting with Dal’s vice-presidents group, Dr. Florizone sat down with the new Dalhousie Student Union executive team for coffee. After finishing up some standard presidential business in the afternoon, Dr. Florizone wrapped up the day with a live in-studio interview on the CTV Evening News at Six.
On Thursday, Dr. Florizone heads to Truro to meet with staff and faculty at the Faculty of Agriculture and host a campus community welcome, which starts at 3 p.m. in the Alumni Gardens. All are invited to attend.
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