Rachel Dratch ’88

RACHEL DRATCH — as an actor, comedian, writer, champion of the arts, and proud member of the Class of 1988, you are anything but a Debbie Downer. You have shown us how to find what you love, and go do it.

At Dartmouth, you said, you found your people. A chance encounter sophomore year led you to a new student improv group, Said And Done, where you and your fellow players blazed a trail to what would become Dartmouth’s longest-standing improv comedy troupe. From your first show, you knew you had found your passion. As audience members in Collis tossed out random words, you learned—even when a scene was flying off the rails—how to be fearless.

That experience carried you from Hanover to Chicago’s famed Second City Theater, where you honed your craft as a writer and performer. From there came seven unforgettable seasons on Saturday Night Live, where your brilliant character work, impeccable timing, and unwavering commitment to the scene—no matter how off-the-wall—made you one of the most beloved comedic voices of your generation. You have created characters and stories so embedded in our culture, we cannot imagine a world before them.

As your career grew across television, film, Broadway, publishing, and voice acting, you never lost sight of the community that first nurtured your artistic ambitions. You have remained a steadfast supporter of the arts at Dartmouth—returning to campus to mentor students, host Dartmouth Idol, and champion the enduring importance of artistic expression within a liberal arts education. Most recently: Your leadership on the Hop’s Board of Advisors has paved the way for a new generation of Dartmouth performers, writers, and creators to pursue their own voices with confidence.

Through it all, you have embodied the qualities we hope to see in each one of our graduates: persistence to succeed and determination in the face of setbacks; an ability to bring people together across differences; and above all, a full and total commitment to whatever scene you find yourself in.

For finding your passion and then bringing it to the world, for paying it forward to the next generation, for showing us the power of the arts to change us, inspire us, and connect us, Dartmouth is proud to award you the honorary degree of Doctor of Arts.

Greg Lukianoff

GREG LUKIANOFF — as an attorney, author, and one of the nation’s leading advocates for free expression, you have dedicated your life to defending the principles that make open inquiry, democratic debate, and higher education possible.

You recognized early in your career: freedom of speech is not merely a constitutional protection, but the foundation of intellectual and civic life. From your leadership of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, you have reminded the world that we all benefit from constructive dialogue; hearing opinions different from our own; and testing ideas through rigorous debate, rather than silencing them.

As president and CEO of FIRE since 2006, you transformed a small civil liberties organization into one of the nation’s most influential defenders of freedom of expression. Under your leadership, FIRE has championed the rights of students, faculty members, journalists, and citizens across the political spectrum.

At a moment when colleges and universities are grappling with polarization, distrust, and the challenge of fostering meaningful conversation across differences, your work has never been more important. At Dartmouth, we are driven by our motto—vox clamantis in deserto—a lone voice crying out in the wilderness, speaking out for the truth. Your work has shaped the national conversation around those same ideals: that universities must remain places where difficult ideas can be examined openly; where disagreement is met with curiosity rather than fear; and where education prepares students not only to speak, but listen. You have urged our institutions to cultivate resilience, courage, and empathy alongside critical thinking—knowing it is how we will produce the leaders that this moment needs.

For defending the freedoms upon which learning depends, for strengthening the culture of open inquiry in American life, and for helping institutions like Dartmouth recommit themselves to the enduring values of dialogue, curiosity, and intellectual courage, Dartmouth is proud to award you the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

Alfred Moses ’51

ALFRED MOSES — as an attorney, diplomat, public servant, and proud member of the Dartmouth Class of 1951, you have embodied the words of Dartmouth’s 12th President, John Sloan Dickey, who said: “The world’s troubles are our troubles ... and there is nothing wrong with the world that better human beings cannot fix.”

In Hanover you began cultivating the intellectual curiosity and global perspective that would define your extraordinary career. Over decades in public life, you became a trusted counselor to presidents, a distinguished attorney at Covington & Burling, and one of America’s most respected diplomatic voices. 

As special counsel to President Jimmy Carter and later as United States ambassador to Romania under President Bill Clinton, you helped guide American engagement during moments of profound geopolitical change. Your work in Romania, during its difficult transition from dictatorship to democracy, reflected a belief that freedom and democratic institutions must be nurtured patiently, courageously, and with humanity.

Long before your ambassadorship, you worked tirelessly to assist Jewish and other persecuted peoples from Eastern Europe who sought freedom—bringing together diplomacy, advocacy, and moral conviction in service of those denied liberty. In recognition of those efforts, Romania awarded you its highest civilian honor ever bestowed upon an American citizen.

At a moment of war and global instability, the example you have set could not be more relevant to the next generation of public servants. You have been a staunch supporter of financial aid and educational access at Dartmouth and beyond—ensuring diverse perspectives are represented on our campuses, and therefore in our civic leadership. And whether recalling campaign stops with John F. Kennedy, conversations with Nelson Mandela and Anwar Sadat, or decades spent at the center of American civic life, you have made sure the hard-earned wisdom of those who came before is not lost on those who come next.

For strengthening the bonds between nations, for defending democratic ideals and human rights across generations, and for exemplifying the values of principled leadership and global citizenship that Dartmouth seeks to instill in all its students, Dartmouth is proud to award you the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

Gary Love ’76

GARY LOVE — as a financier, philanthropist, mentor, and proud member of the Dartmouth Class of 1976, you have devoted your life to expanding opportunity, strengthening community, and helping Dartmouth become a more welcoming place for generations of students to come.

Arriving in Hanover as a first-generation student from a public high school in Chicago, you embraced Dartmouth not simply as a college, but as what you have called “a lifelong journey.” You have spoken candidly about the challenges you and your peers faced during your time on campus, yet you chose not to turn away. Instead, you committed yourself to improving Dartmouth—believing deeply that we should attract and support “the best and brightest from all communities.”

After graduating with degrees in economics and mathematics and earning an MBA from Northwestern University, you built a successful career in finance and founded your own investment company. But even as your professional accomplishments grew, your devotion to Dartmouth never wavered. Over decades of extraordinary alumni service, you became a catalyst for programs and initiatives that transformed the lives of countless students.

You established the Gary L. Love Prize in African and African American Studies to recognize outstanding student scholarship and “expand the horizons” of underrepresented students. You helped lead the effort to establish the E.E. Just Chair in Biology, which became the catalyst for Dartmouth’s E.E. Just Program in STEM. Through Dartmouth Bound—affectionately known to many as “Gary’s Kids”—you opened Dartmouth’s doors to talented students who might never otherwise have imagined themselves here.

Your service has been tireless, your mentorship deeply personal, and your belief in Dartmouth unwavering. Fittingly, your emails often close with the words “Dartmouth undying”—a phrase that captures not only your enduring loyalty to this institution, but your faith in what it can become.

For expanding access and opportunity, for strengthening the fabric of Dartmouth through principled leadership and generous service, and for ensuring that generations of students feel seen, supported, and inspired here, Dartmouth is proud to award you the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Karen L.B. Evans ’76

KAREN L.B. EVANS — as a playwright, entrepreneur, advocate, and trailblazing member of the Dartmouth Class of 1976, you have spent your life expanding whose stories are told, whose voices are heard, and who is welcomed onto the stage.

You and the amazing women of the Class of ’76 took a chance on Dartmouth, entering our campus as part of our first four-year coeducational class. On this, the 50th anniversary of your matriculation, it is only fitting we recognize the remarkable courage and determination you showed. It was far from easy. And yet your presence itself was an act of leadership—demonstrating that our community would be richer, stronger, and more complete because women claimed their rightful place within it.

Graduating with honors in drama before earning your MFA in playwriting from The Catholic University of America, you built a remarkable career dedicated to illuminating African American history and experience through theater. Your plays, published and presented by organizations including PBS, Meriwether Publishing, and American Showcase Theatre, have brought humanity, complexity, and historical truth to audiences across the nation. At the same time, your scholarship on Black theater history has preserved and elevated an essential artistic tradition.

Yet your impact extends far beyond your own writing. As founder and president of the Black Women Playwrights’ Group, you built a creative home for generations of Black women artists navigating an industry that too often excluded them. Through mentorship, workshops, educational outreach, and the first National Meeting of Women of Color Writing Drama, you built pathways for emerging playwrights to see themselves—and their stories—reflected on professional stages. Your work has always embraced innovation as well as tradition, from the theater to technology, including your pioneering digital platform 12@12NOON, which reimagined how audiences experience dramatic storytelling in the modern age. In that, we should not be surprised, because you have always, always been pushing us forward.

For breaking barriers at Dartmouth and beyond, for championing Black women artists and expanding the American theater canon, and for proving that storytelling can be both an art and a force for change, Dartmouth is proud to award you the honorary degree of Doctor of Arts.

Vivek Murthy

DR. VIVEK MURTHY — as a physician, public health leader, and twice-serving Surgeon General of the United States, you have transformed the national conversation around mental health and well-being with compassion, clarity, and moral courage.

Throughout your career, you have challenged Americans to think more broadly about what it means to build a healthy society. You have argued that wellness is not simply the absence of illness, but the presence of community, purpose, and belonging. At a time marked by division, isolation, and rising mental health challenges—particularly among young people—your voice has reminded the nation that empathy, connection, and service are central to public health.

As Surgeon General under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, you elevated issues once too often hidden in silence: addiction, burnout, and the epidemic of loneliness affecting communities across the country. Again and again, you have emphasized that “the small moments of human connection” can profoundly shape individual lives and the health of society itself.

That message has resonated deeply on the Green, as we strive to make mental health and well-being the heart of everything we do — reimagining how colleges can support students not only academically, but emotionally and socially as well. 

Your continued engagement with Dartmouth—whether at our 2023 convening of all living surgeons general on “The Future of Mental Health and Wellness,” or your presence at our UN Mental Health Conference in 2025—has inspired so many of us. You have helped us recommit to a vision of higher education grounded in connection, resilience, and care for one another. As we send a new generation of leaders into the world, we know they are better prepared because of the example you have set. 

For advancing a public health infrastructure rooted in compassion, for helping us speak more openly about mental health and human connection, and for supporting this institution as we continue to put well-being at the center of our mission, Dartmouth is proud to award you the honorary degree of Doctor of Science.

Maria Klawe

DR. MARIA KLAWE — as a mathematician, computer scientist, educator, and one of the world’s great advocates for women in STEM, you have transformed institutions, expanded opportunity, and inspired generations of students to imagine themselves as scientists, engineers, and leaders.

Your pioneering career as a computer scientist and mathematician speaks for itself—paving the way for better and faster algorithms, shaping early thinking on user-centered design, and building the foundation for so much of what we now know as modern computing. Yet that is only one part of your extraordinary impact.

As dean of engineering at Princeton University and then president of Harvey Mudd College, you consistently challenged institutions to rethink who belongs in science and engineering—and showed us what is possible when talent is welcomed, rather than overlooked.

As the first woman to lead Harvey Mudd, you guided one of the nation’s premier engineering institutions through a remarkable transformation. During your presidency, the percentage of women students rose dramatically—and institutions across the world took notice, as Harvey Mudd became a model for broadening participation. Your leadership demonstrated what we at Dartmouth know to be true: Welcoming all voices makes us better; broadens our possibilities; and delivers work—whether in the sciences or elsewhere —with greater creativity, humanity, and impact. 

We could not be more proud to stand beside the example you have set—as our Thayer School of Engineering consistently awards twice the national average of its undergraduate degrees to women. Your work has helped shape the broader national movement that institutions like Dartmouth continue to advance: a future in which scientific and technological leadership reflects the full diversity of human talent.

For redefining what inclusive excellence in STEM can achieve, for opening doors to generations of women in science, engineering, and technology, and for demonstrating that leadership rooted in equity, curiosity, and courage can transform both institutions and lives, Dartmouth is proud to award you the honorary degree of Doctor of Science.