He's been on the job for months, but Thomas Harden finally received a formal welcome to campus Friday when he was inaugurated as the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's fifth chancellor.

The afternoon ceremony at UWGB's Weidner Center for the Performing Arts capped off a week of activities welcoming Harden. The new chancellor started his duties June 1, coming to UWGB from Clayton State University in Morrow, Ga.

Friday's ceremony featured an academic procession with about 125 UWGB faculty members and visitors from other UW System schools. UWGB's most senior faculty member, Ismail Shariff, carried the university mace, a symbolic staff, to the stage.

The event also featured special music from music professor Cheryl Grosso, who composed "Rhythm Chant Harden" for the occasion. UWGB's hand drumming ensemble performed the work during the processional.

Other welcome week activities included a student meet-the-chancellor event Wednesday and a Founders Association fall reception Thursday.

Harden succeeds former Chancellor Bruce Shepard, now the president of Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. David Ward served as interim chancellor for the 2008-09 academic year.