An investiture is an academic tradition dating back centuries, to the Middle Ages. It’s both a formal ceremony and a celebration, marking the moment a new university chancellor is “vested” with the authority and responsibility to lead. It also commemorates a new era of growth and advancement for the university.

The investiture of Marie Lynn Miranda as UIC’s tenth chancellor took place with an official ceremony on April 4, 2024. Other events around the investiture included a volunteer day to bring together the university community in celebration of its next chapter.

During the investiture ceremony, Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda was presented with the UIC Chain of Office, symbolizing her new leadership position and serving as a gift to the UIC campus from the University of Illinois System.

The chain was designed in 2023 and created for Miranda’s investiture in 2024 as the tenth Chancellor of UIC. It represents the ties between the university’s past and present. Nameplates on the Chain of Office list each past chancellor, starting with the first chancellor at the wearer’s right shoulder, followed by the next on the left shoulder and alternating to end with the current chancellor in the center nameplate, directly above the medallion.

The medallion represents the campus itself. It includes the name of the campus, the year it was established and a symbol associated with the campus at the time of its design. 

Each Chain of Office is unique to the University of Illinois campus it represents, yet they share a custom nameplate design, which visually connects them as a system of universities.

The nameplate banners on the chain are custom molds designed in 2018 by Medalcraft Mint for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Medalcraft Mint maintains these custom molds on behalf of the University of Illinois System. The molds cannot be used for any institution outside of the University of Illinois System unless otherwise approved.