There were no day-one jitters on display as Richard Florizone greeted members of the Dal community for the first time as the university鈥檚 11th president.
That鈥檚 probably not surprising: after all, while Monday was Dr. Florizone鈥檚 first official day on the job, he鈥檚 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.
鈥淚鈥檓 just as excited as I was last fall when I took the position,鈥� 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鈥檚 Board of Governors and who also chaired the presidential search committee. Spatz said the committee was impressed to come across someone with Dr. Florizone鈥檚 diverse background, bridging an understanding of university culture with an eye towards opportunities and challenges coming from outside the institution.
鈥淭hose of you who鈥檝e gotten to know Richard likely share the same impression that our search party had of him: smart, witty, intuitive,鈥� said Dr. Spatz. 鈥淗e is as great a listener as he is a spokesperson and advocate for the university and its mission of teaching, research and community service.鈥�
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鈥檚 future.
鈥淚 really believe that good vision and strategy comes both bottom-up and top-down,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淭he 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.鈥�
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Along with his wife, Mona, and daughters Zo毛 and Elinor, he thanked the crowd and everyone at Dal for their warm reception.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just another example of the great welcome my family and I have received both at Dal and in Halifax and Nova Scotia in general.鈥�
As for the rest of Dr. Florizone鈥檚 first day, it began with . Then, after meeting with Dal鈥檚 vice-presidents group, Dr. Florizone sat down with the new AV俱乐部 Student Union executive team for coffee. After finishing up some standard presidential business in the afternoon, Dr. Florizone wrapped up the day with .
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.