The Chancellor’s Chain of Office The Mace

The Chancellor’s Chain of Office, designed and created by College of Visual and Performing Arts faculty, reflects the rich history of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth as well as the current array of its diverse Schools and Colleges. Visually inspired by campus architect Paul Rudolph’s original vision, the Chain of Office incorporates modern contemporary lines echoing the University’s commitment to the future.

The official University seal, the seals of the University’s predecessor institutions, and emblems of the eight existing Schools and Colleges are represented in the medals comprising the chain, which was created of cast bronze and plated in 24-karat gold.

Professors Alan Burton Thompson and Susan Hamlet of the Artisanry Department combined cutting edge computer technology and the oldest of technologies, the hand, to create the chain, which was constructed of more than 60 individual pieces. Full-time Lecturer Charlotte Hamlin of the Textile Design/Fiber Arts program fashioned the blue velvet backing. Full-time Lecturer Reuben Foat of Artisanry’s Furniture Design program assisted in the production process.

The 3-D design software and printer used to create the chain was recently purchased for the College and is now being used to teach digital fabrication classes to undergraduate and graduate students.

The mace, once a terrible instrument of medieval close combat, has come to symbolize the power and authority of an appointed or anointed leader. Many universities, eager to engage in the medieval pageantry reflecting the origins of our earliest universities, have adapted the mace as a ceremonial staff borne at the head of processions traditionally marking the beginning of convocation and commencement.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Mace, created by Richard Creighton, Professor of Fine Arts, is the gift of the late Vice Chancellor for Student Services Emeritus, Celestino Macedo, and the late Special Assistant to the President, Norman Zalkind LHD ’81.