Duane Compton, whose second term as dean of Geisel School of Medicine ends on June 30, 2025, will return to research and teaching upon completion of his term, President Sian Leah Beilock has announced.
A search will begin this fall for the next Geisel dean, with the goal of having the new leader in place by July 1, 2025.
“I’m profoundly grateful for Duane’s partnership and counsel,” President Beilock says. “His leadership helped revitalize Geisel’s commitment to academic excellence and set it on a trajectory for continued success.”
Compton, an internationally known cell and cancer biologist who has been a member of the Geisel faculty since 1993, was appointed dean of Geisel in 2017 after a nearly three-year stint as interim dean. He was reappointed to a second four-year term in 2021.
During his decade-long tenure, Compton has led a number of initiatives that enhanced Geisel’s research and academic efforts and strengthened its financial foundation, including a reorganization that refocused Geisel’s academic research enterprise, recruited numerous institutional leaders at Geisel and Dartmouth Health, and elevated the school’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. He led the design and implementation of a new MD curriculum structure, designed and launched multiple new academic departments, and implemented a comprehensive faculty recruitment strategy.
Among other accomplishments, he oversaw a strategic planning process that is continuing to increase Geisel’s research and innovation, improve integration across the institution and with Dartmouth Health and other clinical partners, and enhance and expand educational offerings.
“Duane has been an invaluable partner and friend,” says Dartmouth Health CEO and President Joanne Conroy ’77. “His commitment to educating the next generation of physicians will leave a positive mark on Dartmouth Health and our greater community.”
Strengthening Geisel’s innovative research enterprise, Compton helped launch new Interdisciplinary centers, one for Implementation Science and another for Precision Health and Artificial Intelligence, and supported the renewal for the National Cancer Institute comprehensive designation for the Dartmouth Cancer Center. He helped to secure a landmark $25 million gift to create the Cancer Center’s Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute. He also oversaw the review processes that led to full re-accreditation of the MD and MPH curricula.
“I want to thank Duane for the tremendous success he has had during his tenure,” says Provost David Kotz ’86. “Geisel is stronger than ever because of his leadership, and Duane will leave his successor on firm footing to continue this work.”
“It was an honor to be appointed dean of Geisel, and it has been my privilege to serve this outstanding community of faculty, students, and staff who believe so deeply in the power and potential of science and education,” Compton says.