Vitter is officially installed as the university’s highest ranking official at the investiture ceremony. It begins at 3 p.m. in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. After the ceremony, at 4:30 p.m., there will be a reception in The Grove for the chancellor. Vitter succeeded Dr. Dan Jones. He was unanimously appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Oct. 29, 2015. He took office January 1, 2016. Vitter was previously the University of Kansas’ executive vice chancellor and provost. Before assuming that position in 2010, Vitter was the provost of Texas A&M University, College Station. Vitter, a native of New Orleans graduated in mathematics at the University of Notre Dame in 1978 and received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in computer science in 1980. Vitter also holds an MBA degree from Duke University. The university sponsored and organized a number of events in the months leading up to Thursday’s celebration.