Higher education attorney Audrey Anderson has been appointed interim general counsel by President Sian Leah Beilock, filling the role held by Sandhya Iyer since 2017. 

Anderson, an attorney at Tennessee-based Bass, Berry & Sims, brings more than 30 years of experience as outside litigation counsel, government counsel, and as vice chancellor and general counsel for Vanderbilt University. During her tenure at Vanderbilt, Anderson also served as university secretary and was responsible for all legal advice provided to the university and its medical center. She remains an adjunct faculty member at Vanderbilt Law School, teaching higher education law and a seminar on the Supreme Court.

Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Anderson worked in the Department of Homeland Security from 2007 to 2013, advising on significant litigation and legislative matters across the department. She also served as a partner in the education and litigation practice groups at Hogan & Hartson, where she represented and advised public school districts in litigation and other matters, and advised clients in complex civil litigation and appellate litigation of all types. 

A graduate of Northwestern University and University of Michigan Law School, Anderson began her career serving as a law clerk for Harold H. Greene, who was a U.S. District Court judge with the District of Columbia, and for then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist at the Supreme Court. Her first day at Dartmouth was Sept. 16.

Iyer, who has been appointed senior vice president and general counsel at Brown University, joined Dartmouth in 2017 and served as legal adviser to the president, Board of Trustees, senior leadership team, and faculty and staff members acting on behalf of Dartmouth. 

She advised on academic and business transactions and oversaw litigation and administrative proceedings spanning Dartmouth’s undergraduate program, graduate and professional schools, research enterprise, and administrative operations. 

While Anderson serves as interim general counsel, Dartmouth has hired Major, Lindsey & Africa to conduct a national search for a permanent replacement.