Harvey Mudd College Inauguration Festivities Set for Feb. 29 & March 1

On Thursday, Feb. 29 and Friday, March 1, Harriet B. Nembhard will be inaugurated as the sixth president of Harvey Mudd College.

Inauguration festivities on Thursday include a community reception, tours of selected campus areas and a community engagement project. Also on Thursday, Nembhard will lead a conversation at 2 p.m. with Harvey Mudd engineering alum and entrepreneur Ho Nam ’88, managing director and co-founder of Altos Ventures. The discussion, “Building Success with Heart: The Role of Kindness and Curiosity in Venture Capital,” is part of the spring Annenberg Leadership and Management Speaker Series.

An investiture ceremony begins Friday at 10 a.m. at Bridges Auditorium (Pomona College), and will include speeches by Nembhard’s colleagues, family and friends, including Jil Stark SCR ’58 (former first lady of Claremont McKenna College), former student Hyojung Kang and family members David Nembhard and Naomi Nembhard. Additional remarks will be given by Harvey Mudd alumni, faculty and students, followed by presentation of the presidential medallion, remarks from Nembhard and a recitation by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. The Claremont Concert Choir will also perform. Lunch and a celebration will follow the ceremony on the Harvey Mudd campus. Friday evening, Harvey Mudd community members will enjoy a Dancing and Desserts event.

Participants are encouraged to RSVP for events on both days.

Nembhard began her tenure as Harvey Mudd’s sixth president on July 1, 2023, succeeding former president Maria Klawe who retired after 17 years of leading the College. Nembhard, a nationally respected leader in the field of industrial and operations engineering and former dean of the College of Engineering at University of Iowa, was appointed president by unanimous vote of the Harvey Mudd College Board of Trustees.

“I firmly believe that we must create the presidency that Harvey Mudd needs for this moment in its history,” Nembhard says. “I hope that as a community, we can begin to explore and engage with the possibilities for our future, being sure that we are always looking toward those things that make Harvey Mudd distinctive, while focusing on our areas of opportunity.”

After her first 100 days as president of Harvey Mudd, Nembhard released 100 Days of Community Connections, a report highlighting themes around her initial conversations with students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, trustees and other members of the College community. The conversations, themes, strategic planning information sessions and many feedback opportunities will all inform Harvey Mudd College’s future direction.

• More information on the inauguration, including event locations and times
• Read more about Nembhard’s tenure, vision and progress.
• Explore Mudd Magazine’s summer 2023 story about Nembhard: Eight Great Things to Know About President Harriet Nembhard.