Chemistry Professor Barry Sharpless '63 will give the keynote address at Convocation today, officially starting the College's 226th academic year.
Convocation is this afternoon at 4 in Leede Arena. Professors will don their academic robes and students will hear addresses from Sharpless, College President James Freedman and Student Assembly President Jim Rich '96.
Director of Public Programs Barbara Whipple said Convocation involves "a lot of tradition" but is still "a very simple ceremony" that will last about one hour.
Whipple said most colleges and universities lack any form of Convocation while Dartmouth has remained true to this custom.
Students should wear semi-formal attire, Whipple said. She said men should wear ties and women should wear skirts.
Once the audience of students are seated, the New England Brass Concert will perform as the faculty march inside.
College Rabbi Daniel Siegel will conduct an opening prayer, then turn the ceremony over to Dean of the Faculty Jim Wright.
Presiding over Convocation, Wright will first welcome the audience. Then he will introduce Freedman, who will speak and then present an honorary Doctor of Science degree to Sharpless, a chemistry professor from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.
Sharpless will make a speech, then Rich will address the audience.
"I'm going to reflect upon the progress that Dartmouth has made in the 20th century and our prospects for the 21st century," Rich said.
Once Rich completes his speech, everyone will sing the alma mater. To close Convocation, faculty members will march out of Leede Arena in a customary recessional.
Convocation used to be held in the morning, but Whipple said the Registrar's office did not want the ceremony to interfere with any class time, so it was moved to 4 p.m.
"That way, everyone who would attend could attend," she said.
Sharpless has served on the faculties of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. He completed his postdoctoral work at Stanford and Harvard University.
He worked with Chemistry Professor Thomas Spencer during his years at Dartmouth.
Spencer previously told The Dartmouth that Sharpless is "an exceedingly energetic and enthusiastic person in addition to being a bright and devoted student."
"What really characterized him is the joy that he takes in doing his science," Sharpless said.
Sharpless has been a pioneer in the field of asymmetric catalysis, Spencer said.
Sharpless spoke at the dedication of the Burke Chemistry building in 1992.
The President of the College selects the Convocation speaker from a list of candidates developed by the Board of Trustees and the Council on Honorary Degrees.
Since 1992, Sharpless has received the King Faisal International Prize for Science, the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry, the San Diego Scientist of the Year award and the Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society.
