In a message to her colleagues today, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Elizabeth F. Smith announced her plan to step down as dean and resume her role as a member of the faculty, effective Sept. 1.
“This summer I will have served eight years as dean and a total of 10 years in Arts and Sciences administration,” said Smith, a cell biologist and the Paul M. Dauten Professor of Biological Sciences who was appointed to the deanship in 2017.
“I have enjoyed immensely working with the members of the Dean of the Faculty team, staff and faculty alike, and I am proud of all that we’ve accomplished to support the incredible work of the Arts and Sciences faculty, who never cease to amaze me with their discoveries, creative work, and dedication to our students. This was not an easy decision, but this timing is best for me, Arts and Sciences, and Dartmouth.”
John Carey, the John Wentworth Professor in the Social Sciences and a professor of government, will serve a two-year term as interim dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, also effective Sept. 1, President Sian Leah Beilock announced in a subsequent email.
President Beilock thanked Smith for her commitment to academic excellence.
“As she advocated on behalf of more than 600 faculty in 40 academic departments and programs, Dean Smith promoted intellectual depth and breadth through a variety of initiatives,” Beilock said.
Smith’s decision comes as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Division of Student Affairs are transitioning into a new school with a unified administrative and budgetary structure to better support students and faculty—a process Smith initiated in 2023 at the behest of then-President Philip J. Hanlon ’77.
“She developed a rigorous process that engaged faculty and staff to examine the possibilities,” Beilock said. “Her work laid the foundation for a new school for the arts and sciences, which will help Dartmouth strengthen a core element of our mission and identity.”
Beilock said Smith will work closely with Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences Nina Pavcnik to “continue to play a key role in the implementation of the new unit in the months to come.”
Smith will also continue her leadership as director of academic partnerships and faculty engagement for the Dialogue Project, which trains students, faculty, and staff in collaborative dialogue skills. The Dialogue Project is the signature initiative of Dartmouth Dialogues, an institution-wide effort to strengthen the culture of respectful discussion across differences.
Smith “has done so much to spearhead Dartmouth’s work promoting free expression and to help develop important skills to a generation of future leaders ready to take those lessons out into the world,” Beilock says.
Among other accomplishments, Smith helped bring more transparency to the tenure review process, strengthened the division’s sexual misconduct policy and process, developed a guide for associate deans and new guidance for department chairs, secured funding for the arts and humanities and the E.E. Just Program, and helped lead the successful pivot to remote undergraduate learning during the pandemic.
In addition, she oversaw upgrades of academic facilities, including the renovations of Dartmouth Hall, Anonymous Hall, Thornton Hall, and Reed Hall, and facilitated the transition of five interdisciplinary programs into departments: African and African American Studies; Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages; Environmental Studies; Linguistics; and Native American and Indigenous Studies.
As an administrator, Smith has also championed the connections between the arts and sciences. As biological sciences chair, she worked with the Hood Museum of Art to commission a sculpture by artist and alumnus Gar Waterman ’78 for the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center. With support from the Mellon Foundation, she collaborated with the Hopkins Center for the Arts to connect science faculty with emerging composer Fay Wang to commission a musical interpretation of microbiology.
Smith, who in 2023 was formally adopted as an honorary member of the Class of 1973, also helped create positions that have provided support for faculty in areas ranging from faculty development to communications.
Smith, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Agnes Scott College and her PhD in cell and developmental biology from Emory University, joined the Dartmouth faculty in 1998 and has served as dean since 2017. She previously served as associate dean of the sciences and as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences.
Carey served as associate dean of the social sciences from 2019 to 2024 and recently chaired the Committee on Institutional Statements that developed and recommended Dartmouth’s newly adopted policy of institutional restraint.
A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Carey is an expert on elections, how democracies succeed or fail, and on Latin American politics. He is also a co-founder of Bright Line Watch, an initiative that monitors the resilience of and potential threats to democratic practices in the United States.
Carey holds a BA from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of California at San Diego.
“I hope you will join me in thanking Elizabeth for her service to Dartmouth and welcoming John back to a leadership role,” Beilock said.