Haverford College inducted a former Penn professor as its 13th president Saturday.
Stephen Emerson, a stem-cell biologist, comes to Haverford from the Penn Medical School, where he was a professor in Pediatrics and Pathology.
He was also chief of oncology and hematology for the University's Abramson Cancer Center.
In his inaugural address to students and faculty at the school on Saturday, Emerson compared students to stem cells that he's spent his career researching, saying their job is to help heal a sometimes broken world.
"We ask them to be heroic," he said.
Emerson also drew on Haverford's Quaker tradition and Enlightenment principles to validate the research and teaching mission of the school.
Penn President Amy Gutmann attended the ceremony and gave a short speech praising Emerson.
