Presidential Search Committee Chair Bill Helman ’80 and Vice Chair Diana Taylor ’77 today named the 17 members of the Dartmouth community who will lead the search for the College’s 18th president. Also announced was the selection of nationally recognized firm Isaacson, Miller as the search consultant.

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“The members of the Presidential Search Committee were selected for their varied expertise and experiences and for their deep understanding of the College,” said Steve Mandel ’78, chair of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees and an ex-officio member of the committee. “We greatly appreciate the substantial time they will commit to finding a leader who will uphold Dartmouth’s rich traditions and continue to advance its standing as a global force in higher education.”

Presidential Search Committee membership

Members of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees:

• Bill Helman ’80 (Committee Chair), partner at Greylock, a venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in technology, consumer Internet, and health care
• Diana Taylor ’77 (Committee Vice Chair), managing director, Wolfensohn & Company, a strategic consulting and investment firm
• Jim Coulter ’82, founding partner of TPG Capital, L.P., a private equity firm
• Denise Dupré ’80, adjunct professor at Harvard University Extension and former Director of the Boston University School of Hotel Administration
• Annette Gordon-Reed ’81, author, historian, and legal scholar with faculty appointments at Harvard Law School, Harvard University, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
• John Rich ’80, physician, public health leader, and professor and chair of health management policy 
at the Drexel University School of Public Health

• Ron Adner, professor of strategy, Tuck School of Business
• Alan Green, the Raymond Sobel Professor of Psychiatry, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine
• Mary Lou Guerinot, the Ronald and Deborah Harris Professor in the Sciences and professor of biological sciences
• Anne Kapuscinski, the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Sustainability Science and chair of environmental studies
• Brian Pogue, dean of Graduate Studies and professor of engineering sciences, Thayer School of Engineering
• Steven Swayne, professor of music
• William Wohlforth, the Daniel Webster Professor of Government

• Emily Bakemeier ’82, deputy provost for the arts and humanities, Yale University
• Jeffrey Horrell, dean of libraries and librarian of the College
• Suril Kantaria ’13, student body president

In April, the Board announced that Trustees Helman and Taylor would lead the Presidential Search Committee as chair and vice chair, respectively. In May, Mandel, Helman, and Taylor began the process of engaging the Dartmouth community in a series of conversations about leadership characteristics and the future of Dartmouth.

On May 17, the three trustees hosted open forums for students, faculty, and staff. The committee chairs have also met in smaller sessions with faculty from the professional schools and the Arts and Sciences, as well as numerous faculty committees and student, staff, and alumni groups.

“We are trying to create a comfortable engagement model for all stakeholders in this process,” said Helman, noting that outreach has included open forums, small meetings, and one-on-one conversations, as well as feedback via email and the search website. “Over the past month, we have spoken with hundreds of students, faculty, staff, and alumni about the qualities and other considerations that they believe are most important to the presidential search. We are grateful for their candor and significant input, and we continue to seek the opinions and perspectives of all members of the Dartmouth community.”

Going forward, the Presidential Search Committee will conduct more extensive alumni outreach. The committee will also host a second faculty forum and conduct targeted outreach to staff.

The committee has also received hundreds of comments, recommendations, and nominations through the Dartmouth Presidential Search website and email account presidential.search@dartmouth.edu.

“The amount of feedback we’ve received through our website and dedicated email address has been phenomenal,” said Taylor. “We look forward to further suggestions and to engaging in continued discussion as the Presidential Search Committee works to develop and refine the roadmap that will guide our search for the next president.”

Next steps

The Presidential Search Committee’s first task will be to craft and release a Statement on Leadership Criteria, informed by the community input currently being gathered. The statement will help guide the committee’s selection of a president who embodies the qualities and characteristics that will ensure Dartmouth’s continued preeminence in higher education as well as garner the interest of potential candidates.

The committee will continue to collect and consider community input as the search moves forward. During the selection and interview process, the committee will conduct its work with the full confidentiality essential to attracting the highest-quality candidates and protecting their privacy.

Following a competitive selection process including proposal reviews, interviews, and reference checks, Isaacson, Miller was selected to support the presidential search. The firm has conducted dozens of presidential searches, including for Dartmouth and other leading academic institutions such as the University of California at San Diego, Tufts University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Williams College.

“We were impressed by Isaacson, Miller’s track record of matching colleges and universities with the right world-class candidates as well as their outstanding references. We know the firm will be a tremendous help in this critical endeavor,” said Taylor.

As announced previously, the Board has appointed Provost Carol L. Folt as interim president of Dartmouth, effective July 1, following President Jim Yong Kim’s selection to lead the World Bank.

[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignleft”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“75”,“height”:“75”,“alt”:“Dartmouth Shield”}}]]Dartmouth College Press Release Contact the Office of Public Affairs (603) 646-3661 • office.of.public.affairs@dartmouth.edu