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On Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, Wake Forest University celebrated the inauguration of President Peter Rodriguez, Wake Forest’s 15th president since its founding in 1834.

The installation was held on a warm fall day with red, gold and orange leaves carpeting the campus. Wake Forest faculty and invited delegates processed into Wait Chapel for the formal investiture of President Rodriguez.

Rodriguez’s address focused on the power—and the responsibility—of the University to change lives for the better, even in the most challenging circumstances.

“Universities do not merely educate individuals—we do not simply share knowledge with them—we also shape who they become,” he said. “In turn, our graduates shape others, and in communities like ours, we maintain a living culture that supports us all. And so we must show great care in how we preserve it.”

Wake Forest’s commitment to cutting-edge research, a tradition of academic inquiry grounded in the humanities and its Pro Humanitate mission—For Humanity—positions the University to change lives for the better, Rodriguez said.

He found inspiration for his address in the Voyager space probes of the 1970s. At a time when inflation and unemployment dogged the American economy, and recent college graduates worried about their career prospects, university scientists and engineers launched the Voyager missions to learn more—and to invest in the future.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to the universities, the scientists, the engineers, to the people of our nation, who invested in human curiosity and scientific advance in a challenging time,” Rodriguez said. “And, we owe a duty to one of the fundamental purposes of the academy, to expand knowledge through research, and to generously and broadly educate our world and all of its people.”

Wake Forest University will fulfill this duty, too, Rodriguez said, through the “expansion of knowledge through scientific research and in all the ways that humans seek to understand our world and ourselves.”

“Wake Forest will endlessly pursue excellence in our mission,” he continued. “We will advance research, expand and improve our teaching, and we will match our ambitions with our authenticity.”

The University’s Board of Trustees appointed Rodriguez in May, and he began his presidency in July, succeeding Susan R. Wente in the role. A trained economist, he most recently served as dean of Rice University’s School of Business.

The inauguration website hosts details about the event, including the livestream of the ceremony.

The investiture

Chair of the Board of Trustees, Curtis C. Farmer, presided over the formal investiture of the University’s 15th president. 

“Peter Rodriguez, who has been leading the University since July 1, has shown himself to be a thoughtful leader with a strong vision for the future of Wake Forest,” said Farmer. “I have had the privilege of working closely with Peter these past few months and have seen him dive headfirst into our community with energy and enthusiasm.” 

Jeanne Whitman Bobbitt and Gary Pinkus, Vice Chairs of the Board of Trustees, invested Rodriguez with the Presidential Collar of State, which is made up of University seal medallions with the name and tenure of each of Wake Forest’s 13 past presidents.

‘Genuinely connecting with students’

On her way into the ceremony at Wait Chapel, Cate Hardin, a senior from Baltimore, Md., said she appreciated President Rodriguez’s student-facing nature. 

“He’s been so committed to the student experience … and genuinely connecting with students here on campus,” she said. “I’m excited to have that really be the foundation of his presidency.”

Indeed, in his welcoming remarks to the president, Student Government President Gray Lowder paused to turn to Rodriguez and say, “we just love you” for prioritizing relationships with students.

Junior Kal Wuor, a presidential aide who was greeting guests at the door, said she was attending the day’s inauguration events to witness history.

“I’m really looking forward to being able to talk about this experience,” she said. “And I am looking forward to hearing something new, something different, something that challenges me” in the president’s address.

Sharing a spirit of curiosity

In celebration of President Rodriguez’s inauguration, a symposium on “The Questions We Haven’t Asked Yet” was held in Brendle Recital Hall on Friday morning. Wake Forest faculty from across academic disciplines discussed their scholarship and shared the questions their work is generating. 

Law professor Chris Coughlin moderated the panel discussion and question-and-answer session with the five teacher-scholars. They covered the emerging role of artificial intelligence in mental health treatment, connections between music and memory, emerging neuroscience research, how people can engage with those who hold different views, and ways asking new questions can build stronger communities.

Each expert shared their unanswered questions and challenged the audience to approach the world with a willingness to learn. 

By the end of the symposium, professors from neuroscience, music, religion, psychology and business found research by their colleagues that intersected their own efforts—calling out to one another, “Let’s collaborate!”

“It’s curiosity that bravely outpaces certainty and is at the heart of what it means to learn, to discover, and to be more fully human,” said Rodriguez.