Nathan O. Hatch, former provost at the University of Notre Dame, was installed as the thirteenth president of Wake Forest University on October 20, 2005. In his
inaugural address, he pledged to draw upon Wake Forest's traditional strengths to build an even stronger learning community to meet contemporary challenges. "Let us rekindle Wake Forest's finest tradition: a face-to-face community, grounded in the liberal arts, passionate about professional education, and committed to living out the values we profess individually and as a community," he said. "I am confident that Wake Forest can build this kind of learning community at the highest levels of academic life. It is our heritage, our identity, and our greatest opportunity."
