David J. Skorton

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David J. Skorton
President of Cornell University
Term	July 1, 2006 – present
Predecessor	Hunter R. Rawlings III
Born	November 22, 1949 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alma mater	Northwestern University
Profession	Medical Doctor

David J. Skorton (born November 22, 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin); is an American medical scholar and academic administrator and is currently serving as the president of Cornell University.

He was named as the new president of Cornell University on Saturday, January 21, 2006 and is the second Cornell president to arrive directly from the presidency of the University of Iowa. Hunter R. Rawlings III, former interim president and 10th president of Cornell, was also president of Iowa from 1988–1995. Skorton stayed on at Iowa for the duration of the 2006 spring semester and officially assumed the Cornell presidency on July 1, 2006. His inauguration occurred on September 7, 2006.

He studied at UCLA before transferring to Northwestern University, where he was awarded a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1970 and an M.D. in 1974. He completed his medical residency and fellowship in cardiology at the University of California at Los Angeles, he came to the University of Iowa as an instructor in 1980. In 1981, he was named an assistant professor in internal medicine and that was followed in 1982 by being named an assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering. While at Iowa, he also served as vice president for research and as interim vice president for external relations.

He is married to Robin L. Davisson, who was an associate professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Iowa. Davisson also received faculty appointments at Cornell in Biomedical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine and in Cell and Developmental Biology at the Weill Cornell Medical College. Skorton has one child from a previous marriage and is a jazz musician.

[edit] External links

• Cornell University Press Release
• University of Iowa official biography
• Des Moines Register article about his moving to Cornell
• Ithaca Journal article about his move to Cornell
• Chronicle of Higher Education article on Skorton

Preceded by Mary Sue Coleman William L. Boyd (interim)	President of the University of Iowa 2002-2006	Succeeded by Gary Fethke (interim)
Preceded by Jeffrey S. Lehman Hunter R. Rawlings III (interim)	President of Cornell University July 1, 2006 – present	Incumbent