In my privileged position as Rector of Universitas Indonesia, one of my duties is to speak at the openings of various events such as conferences, symposia, meetings with industry, and graduations.
At each one, my task is to share ideas which are both relevant to the event, and of interest to the audience. I also attempt to demonstrate how dynamic the university is in its development to become world class. Above all, I would hope to leave the audience with a good impression of UI by not making the mistake of speaking for too long or being too predictable.
Each speech is written to be relevant for the individual audience, but many themes and elements in the speeches appear again and again. Such core themes include, for example, university governance, ethics in education, knowledge without walls, the value of interdisciplinary work and the importance of collaboration in education.
I realized that if the speeches were collected and published, it would make them available to a wider audience and that, when the different speeches were put side by side, it would reflect the breadth and dynamism of the intellectual life of this university
I also hope that the collected speeches will be of interest to broad-minded educated people precisely because they touch on such a wide range of themes.
I would like to say a special word of thanks to Dr. Allan F. Lauder, the editor of the collected speeches. In addition to being the editor, he also assisted by doing research for each of the speeches.
In closing, I hope that this, the first of a number of planned volumes, will inform, entertain, and most of all, show this wonderful university in a good light.