"What Could We Not Do?": The Inauguration of Ray Jayawardhana as Caltech's 10th President

On a November evening more than a century ago, George Ellery Hale, one of Caltech's three founders, and his guests gathered atop Mount Wilson to witness the first light of the 100-inch Hooker Telescope, the world's most powerful at the time. Ray Jayawardhana, who took office in July, began his inaugural address on Thursday, October 29, recounting that moment after he was formally installed as Caltech's 10th president. "First light," he explained, "is the poetic term astronomers use for the moment a new telescope first opens its eyes to the cosmos. It marks both the culmination of years of inge