Investiture of Old Elizabethan economist as President of American university
Internationally respected economist Dr Sandeep Mazumder has been formally inaugurated as the ninth President of Georgia’s Berry College.
Sandeep (OE 1993–2000), who frequently gives his time online to support Economics at QE, was welcomed by representatives of the college’s Board of Trustees, by faculty, by current students, and by alumni in a special ceremony.
Roger Lusby, Vice Chair of the college’s Board of Trustees, formally invested him by presenting him with the presidential medallion.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My heartfelt congratulations go to Sandeep on his inauguration: he is a good friend to QE, and I know that all here will wish him well in his distinguished new role.”
Also paying tribute was QE Governor Eric Houston, a teacher at the School from 1976 who was Second Master when he retired in 2010. After watching the livestream of the ceremony, he wrote to Sandeep: “The abiding memory for me will always be that of your happiness as you stood and acknowledged the warm and genuine applause from the audience at the end…I am certain that you will use your considerable ability, drive and energy to move the college forward, and so bring many benefits to the students and staff working there now and in the future.”
Berry College, a private university near Rome, Georgia, is named after educationalist Martha Berry, who in 1902 founded a boys’ industrial school, before going on to form a girls’ school and college. The trustees unanimously elected Sandeep to be the college’s president.
After studying at Cambridge, Sandeep moved to the US to complete his PhD at Johns Hopkins University. He served as an Economics Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Wake Forest University and then as Dean of the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Texas. He took up the post at Berry College in July last year.
Before giving his inaugural address, he was introduced at the ceremony by Derek Radney, pastor of Trinity Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He has been a friend of Sandeep’s for over 15 years, and Sandeep is a former member of his church.
“I could tell you many things about how great he is, but instead I want to share with you what has always impressed me about him, and that’s his humility,” Mr Radney said. “…In a day and age when apologies might mean that you’re going to be cancelled, or when many leaders believe that you should never admit wrong if you want to be successful, Dr Mazumder has always been willing to apologise, to tell the truth about himself, and to take responsibility. …Because of his confidence in the forgiveness and acceptance of God through Jesus Christ, Sandeep has been willing to humbly embrace the weakness of repentance without fear or shame, enabling him to grow into into a person capable of greater love, freedom, and power for service.”
Sandeep concluded his inaugural address with these words: “Let us walk together in a way that is worthy of our calling. And I look forward to taking that journey with you all. Thank you for joining me on this special day, and may God continue to bless the pursuits of Berry College.”
During the ceremony, representatives of various parts of the college and wider community gave their own tributes to Sandeep.
Among them was Dr Laurence Ball, Professor of Economics at Johns Hopkins, representing higher education. He was the primary advisor for Sandeep’s doctoral dissertation, completed in 2009. The two have gone on to co-author several publications, and Dr Ball lauded the quality of Sandeep’s research.
John Parker, Berry College Faculty member in the Department of Religion and Philosophy and a Faculty Assembly officer, said: “We are very glad that your path from London and Cambridge to Baltimore and Waco has at last led you here to Mount Berry. We stand confident in your character and skills to lead us into the future, and we wish you every success as you help us.”