James O. Freedman Presidential Professorship announced

Posted 06/14/98

James O. Freedman will step down as the 15th President of Dartmouth College on Aug. 1, but his widely acclaimed legacy from eleven years as president will continue. A Dartmouth alumnus and his wife have made possible a formal recognition of that legacy by establishing the James O. Freedman Presidential Professorship, approved by the Trustees of Dartmouth College at their June 12-13 meeting.

The professorship has been endowed by Norman E. McCulloch, Jr. of Barrington, R.I., a member of the Dartmouth class of 1950; and Dorothy R. McCulloch, his wife. Former Chairman of the Board Norman McCulloch chaired the search committee which recommended Freedman to the trustees in 1987 to join "The Wheelock Succession" of presidents of Dartmouth (named after Eleazar Wheelock, who founded the college in 1769).

"This professorship has been established to continue the legacy of intellectual distinction that has been the hallmark of President Freedman's administration," said McCulloch. "We feel privileged to honor Jim's commitment to liberal education and scholarly distinction, and are pleased that this distinguished chair will be occupied by scholars of the highest academic excellence and achievement from across the nation and around the world."

The Hon. Stephen W. Bosworth, chairman of the Board of Trustees and United States Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, said, "The James O. Freedman Presidential Professorship will serve as a touchstone and a catalyst, enhancing intellectual community and providing a vibrant and continuing celebration of the life of the mind. It will stand not only as an enduring legacy to an extraordinary leader, but as an ongoing opportunity for Dartmouth College to distinguish itself among the nation's great institutions of higher learning."

Having been president of the University of Iowa from 1982-87 and president of Dartmouth since, Freedman has served a total of 16 consecutive years as president of a major higher education institution. He is the senior president in the Ivy League.

Freedman has made a strong mark on Dartmouth and higher education generally, as reflected by the headline of a profile of him in the Jan. 4, 1997 issue of The New York Times : "A Shy Scholar Transforms Dartmouth Into a Haven for Intellectuals". A sampling of achievements at Dartmouth during Freedman's tenure includes:

• The first comprehensive overhaul of the college's curriculum in more than 70 years.
• Effective (and continuing) parity between the numbers of men and women undergraduates, at an institution whose undergraduate student body was only 38 percent female when Freedman took office.
• A "#1" ranking in commitment to undergraduate liberal arts education in a national survey of college and university presidents and deans by U.S. News and World Report in 1995.
• A new approach to grade reporting that has been hailed as a national model.
• Creation of a program that gives 60 Dartmouth juniors and seniors each year the opportunity to work with Dartmouth faculty members on individual research projects.
• Creation of two new programs that have encouraged women and minorities to major in the sciences and another that will help increase the number of minority faculty members nationwide through Ph.D. fellowships.
• The most successful capital campaign in Dartmouth's history, which raised more than $568 million.
• An endowment which rose from $537 million when Freedman took office to nearly $1.3 billion as of June 30, 1997 (the end of the most recent fiscal year).
• Eight major new or renovated academic and student facilities and a range of new or revitalized academic programs.