ORONO – Hailing the University of Maine as “one of the country’s greatest academic treasures,” Robert A. Kennedy formally took his place as the 18th president of the flagship campus during a tradition-steeped installation ceremony on Friday.

“I am humbled to be this university’s president,” said Kennedy, who began his duties last April. A plant biochemist, Kennedy came to the Orono campus five years ago as vice president for academic affairs.

The two-hour event Friday at the Maine Center for the Arts was attended by about 600 people including faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members, as well as the presidents of the six other University of Maine System campuses.

After being introduced by his wife, Mary Rumpho-Kennedy, UM professor of biochemistry and molecularbiology, Kennedy paid respect to the past by recalling former presidents and their efforts, but emphasized the future and said the university’s “best days are ahead.”

In that regard, he announced a number of new initiatives, including the creation of a group that “will take a top-to-bottom look at everything we do and everything we can do” to help ensure that students graduate from the Orono campus.

The university also has begun developing “a long-term, ambitious” fundraising campaign, said Kennedy, who predicted that it would “help transform” the campus.

Though he did not offer details in his speech, Kennedy had referred in April to a major development campaign when he was still a candidate for the president’s position.

At the time, he proposed raising $150 million to $250 million from private and public sources over five to seven years to supplement state funding and tuition and help pay for scholarships and faculty positions.

In addition, Kennedy said Friday that UM is developing ways to boost its commercialization capabilities. He said there currently are more patent and intellectual property activities going on at UM than at all of the other research institutions in Maine combined.

Wearing the gold presidential medallion emblazoned with the UM seal that had been presented to him earlier in the ceremony by University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal, Kennedy also said the university has begun establishing itself as a model for how a public university can serve the needs of the state.

“This new model involves being responsive and flexible enough to adapt to changing societal needs, while capitalizing on our individual and collective strengths,” he said. “It also means greater collaboration with other institutions and taking a leadership role in creative efforts to pool resources and expertise.”

Pointing out that the university is collaborating with the state’s research institutions to develop a Graduate School of Biomedical Science on the University College of Bangor campus, Kennedy said other partnerships also are in the works.

For example, UM recently formalized a joint Ph.D./Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree with the University of New England, he said.

Through partnerships, creative planning and mobilization, UM is in a position to solve “some of the state’s most urgent problems,” said Kennedy.

The new president praised faculty, staff and students, and said he was proud of UM’s research achievements, but noted that it was also vital to establish “a foundation for our students in the liberal arts, to help them develop communication skills, and to promote creative and analytical thinking, along with ethical, moral, social and cultural sensibilities.”

During speeches leading up to the installation ceremony, Kennedy was lauded by representatives of the faculty, students, alumni, community and board of visitors, who referred to his dedication, optimism, vision, ability to generate support for UM, and “deep passion for students.”

The students’ enthusiasm for the new president also was highlighted by a member of the Maine Steiners.

Just as the men’s a cappella group finished performing for the crowd, member James Weiland turned to Kennedy on stage and said, “You have the loyalty of the students. And we really are looking forward to all of the things that you’re going to do here.”