CEREMONY GIVES DOBBINS SOUTHEAST REINS

Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Ken Dobbins has been on the job for five months. On Friday afternoon, he was officially invested as the school's 17th president in a ceremony at Academic Hall Auditorium.

About 700 faculty, staff, students, alumni and area residents attended the ceremony, which lasted about an hour and a half. Secretary of State Bekki Cook was among the dignitaries in attendance and the only statewide officeholder at the ceremony.

Don Dickerson, president of the Board of Regents, presented Dobbins with the presidential medallion.

The sterling silver medallion was first presented to Mark Scully on his 10th anniversary as university president in April 1966. Since then, the medallion has served as a symbol of the presidency and been passed to each succeeding president of the institution.

The 50-year-old Dobbins said he would do his best to "light the fire of learning" at the school.

He compared the operation of a university to building a great cathedral. "We are all laying bricks," he said.

Dobbins was a first-generation college student growing up in Ohio. Back then, he saw higher education as "a passport to a better and fuller life," he said.

He still does. "Today, like all of you, I still believe in higher education," he told the crowd.

"I take on this presidency with delight because being president of Southeast is not only a great challenge, but it is also a great gift," said Dobbins.

Among those at the ceremony were Dobbins' wife, Jeanine, and their son, Paul, a student at Southeast. Dobbins was invested as president as family and longtime friends looked on.

The president, regents, faculty, staff and other dignitaries marched into Academic Hall Auditorium robed in academic regalia. The group included more than 100 faculty members, deans, administrators and staff.

Biology professor Dr. Walt Lilly greeted Dobbins on behalf of the faculty. Lilly, who served with Dobbins on the university's budget review committee, said the president has "a great sense of the budget."

Dobbins has worked at Southeast for the past eight years. He came to Southeast in 1991 as vice president for finance and administration and served as executive vice president from July 1993 to his appointment as university president earlier this year.

Lilly said he hasn't always agreed with Dobbins on budget matters. But he said he has found he can work with Dobbins "both as a colleague and an adversary."

Lilly said he was honored and surprised to be chosen to speak at the investiture. "I have a tie on for about the 15th time this decade."

The professor said there always are some differences between faculty and the administration. But Lilly said he hopes Dobbins becomes "a great president."

Dr. Aubrey Lucas, the retired president of the University of Southern Mississippi and former chairman of the board of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, gave the keynote speech.

Lucas said a college president needs the "stomach of a goat" to handle the problems and pressures of the job.

"Effective presidents are not born," he said. "They are made."

The ceremony was kept low-key at the insistence of Dobbins. School officials said Dobbins is already well known to the university community and the region.

Dr. Kenneth Dobbins

Age: 50

Career: Has had 18-year career in higher education. Has worked in the university administration since 1991. He has served as Southeast's president since July 1.

Prior to coming to Southeast he held financial positions at Kent State University from 1981 to 1991. He served in the Air Force from 1972 to 1981.

Personal: He is married to Jeanine Larson, coordinator of the Missouri Statewide Early Literacy Intervention Program based at Southeast. They have one son, Paul, a sophomore at Southeast.