Note to Editors:  Chancellor Carter’s formal inauguration speech, as well as a high-resolution photo, are available on the inauguration pages of www.ctstateu.edu.

HARTFORD, Oct. 20 — Gov. M. Jodi Rell led dozens of state and national dignitaries attending and participating in today’s inauguration of Dr. David G. Carter Sr. as chancellor of the Connecticut State University (CSU) System, the largest system of higher education in the state of Connecticut. The inauguration took place at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

“I am in awe of what I believe to be a rare opportunity for members of the Connecticut State University System in this millennium,” remarked Chancellor Carter in his inaugural address. “We are four, but we are one. Four universities each in pursuit of a different mission while at the same time connected to one another so that we can better assist the state in addressing its needs and thereby have an impact on the nation and society as a whole.”

Carter has served as the chancellor of the Connecticut State University System since February 2006. He is responsible for ensuring that the policies, directives and decisions of the Connecticut State University System Board of Trustees are carried out. He also is responsible for providing oversight for the management and operations of the CSU System, which includes four universities — Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven and Western Connecticut State University in Danbury.

Although the constituent universities each were founded more than a century ago, they officially were joined together as the Connecticut State University System in 1983.

With a theme of “Our Collective Challenge — Content and Character,” Carter’s inaugural remarks focused on his vision for the CSU System for the next decade. Some of his goals include a system-wide articulation agreement which enables a student from any Connecticut community college to move to any of the four CSU universities without loosing any credits, establishing a Center for International Education for the CSU System, and launching a PK-16 Initiative through which each of the four CSU universities establish partnerships with school districts across the state.

“It is my vision that the Connecticut State University System will be recognized as an exemplar among its kind, meeting in full the educational needs of the citizens of Connecticut and the nation within a global society,” Carter remarked in his address. “To guarantee attainment of this vision requires collaboration among the four constituent universities to create and sustain student-centered learning environments that promote their distinct missions.”

“I believe that we should be proud that 92 percent of students attending our state universities are from Connecticut,” he continued. “We should be proud that a significant number of CSU’s graduates remain in Connecticut after their graduations. They work, they pay taxes, and they engage in volunteerism contributing to the cultural enrichment of the state. They energize intellectual discourse in a number of businesses and nonprofit agencies. They contribute to the state’s economic competitiveness. … Let me state unequivocally that we in the Connecticut State University System have much of which we can proud. It is important to remember that the lives we touch today have the potential to be tomorrow’s leaders who posses the values we all cherish.” 

The inauguration included a procession of 300 dignitaries and university representatives dressed in their formal academic regalia, and the unveiling of a new CSU System seal. More than 1,200 guests attended the event.

“I am very pleased to be a part of the installation of David Carter as the chancellor of the Connecticut State University System, and to join him as we celebrate the future of higher education in Connecticut,” said Governor Rell. “In his new role, Chancellor Carter will help steer our state’s largest higher education system so that it not only fills the educational needs of students, but also serves to develop the talent essential to the workforce needs of Connecticut business and industry. Chancellor Carter has a long and successful career in higher education, and I am confident that his experience and vision will benefit all of the citizens of Connecticut.”

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Carter faced and overcame many obstacles. When he was five years old, a fire destroyed his family’s business, an uninsured general store. Shortly thereafter, his father passed away, leaving his mother to raise Carter and his three older brothers. But through the support of his family and the guidance of sisters Ruth and Katherine Everett — schoolteachers who took Carter under their wings — Carter went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Central State University in Ohio, an M.Ed. degree in curriculum and supervision from Miami (Ohio) University, and a Ph.D. in educational development and educational administration from Ohio State University.

Carter’s successful career as a professional educator spans more than forty-one years. Carter became the fifth president of Eastern Connecticut State University on April 2, 1988 — the first African American president of a four-year institution of higher education in New England. Prior to assuming the presidency, Carter served as associate vice president for academic affairs, associate dean in the School of Education, and professor of educational administration at the University of Connecticut during an eleven-year period there. Before joining the faculty at the University of Connecticut, he was an associate professor in the College of Education at Pennsylvania State University for four years. Previous to his career in higher education, Carter was an elementary school teacher, vice principal, principal, and unit facilitator (synonymous with area school superintendent) responsible for overseeing more than 20,000 elementary, middle and high school students in 24 Ohio schools.

Carter is active in national, state, and local organizations and agencies. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Eastern States Exposition and a past chair of its Connecticut Trustees. He is a member of the Executive Committee for the Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration. He is a founding member of the Millennium Leadership Initiative, a national leadership development institute, having served as its co-chair, and currently is a member of its Steering Committee. He also has served as President of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

Among many awards for his contributions to higher education and to his community are the NAACP Roy Wilkins Civil Rights Award, the Outstanding Service and Leadership in Enhancing International Education Award, and the Americanism Award from the Connecticut American Legion. He also received the Tapestry Award from theHartford Courant in 2002, and the Good Citizen Award from the Connecticut Grand Lodge, Order of the Sons of Italy in America in 2001. He was selected “Man of the Year” in 2000 by the African American Affairs Commission.

“We are very excited to have Dr. Carter assume the role of chancellor of the Connecticut State University System,” said CSU System Board of Trustees chairman Lawrence McHugh. “He is an outstanding educator with a tremendous amount of honesty and integrity. We are one of the best systems in the country and we have no doubt that he will continue to move CSU forward in the future.”

Carter succeeds Dr. William J. Cibes Jr., who retired in February after having served as chancellor since 1994.

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Additional Information:

Amy Feest, APR, CSUS Interim Director of Public Affairs:

860-493-0021 or feesta@so.ct.edu.