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For his spirited remarks about Dartmouth, Professor of Computer Science Scot Drysdale received applause from the audience of the 40 or so faculty members at a recent presidential search forum hosted by Trustees Ed Haldeman ’70 and Al Mulley ’70 and Provost Barry Scherr. “Dartmouth was the only place, and this was thirty years ago, that said we care about teaching, we care about research, and we mean it,” said Drysdale. “I don’t think there’s anybody that combines those as well as we do.” Mulley responded, “There’s no disagreement on the Board about what you said.”
Professor of Computer Science Scot Drysdale speaks during the presidential search open forum for faculty, held May 9 in Dartmouth Hall. (Photos by Tilman Dette ’10)
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The May 9 meeting in Dartmouth Hall was the fourth open forum held by Haldeman, chair of the Board of Trustees, and Mulley, chair of the search committee for the College’s 17th president. In addition to hosting forums for staff, students, and alumni last month, Mulley and Haldeman have met with groups of faculty and held a range of individual conversations—formal and informal—with members of the Dartmouth community. They are also collecting feedback on the website. “We’re committed to work as hard as we can to get input early on the process,” said Haldeman, who also thanked Mulley for “putting a huge amount of time into this.”
One of about twelve faculty members to speak during the meeting, Colin Calloway, chair of the Native American studies program and the Samson Occom Professor, recommended that a candidate be committed to diversity in “genuine” ways. “It’s too important a topic for the candidate to just give a nod to,” he said. Candidates should be pressed on how they actually see diversity looking and working, said Calloway, and—at the request of Haldeman—he said a potential question for a candidate would be “How would you respond to an incident that is offensive in a timely manner?” Mulley said, “That will be a good conversation to have with a candidate.”
Candidates should also be asked to “articulate a vision” for the College for the next 10 years or more, said Ivy Schweitzer, professor of English and chair of the women’s and gender studies program. Schweitzer also said the College should strive to gain recognition for its strengths, such as study abroad programs and educational outreach. “Not everyone knows what we’re really good at,” she said. Chair of the Department of Religion and the Preston H. Kelsey Professor in Religion Susan Ackerman ’80 also stressed that a new president should have a clear vision and be able to “help us in the arts and sciences determine what a curriculum in the 21st century looks like.”
 Trustees Al Mulley '70, Ed Haldeman '70, and Provost Barry Scherr.
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Also addressing a modern issue, Benoit Cushman-Roisin, professor of engineering at Thayer School of Engineering, said he hoped the next president could lead efforts to make the College more environmentally sustainable. “We need this to come from the top,” he said. Associate Professor of Religion Kevin Reinhert, meanwhile, noted that the president should have a keen understanding of international issues. “As the world is changing we should look at someone with demonstrated concern for the rest of the world, similar to President Dickey,” he said.
John Winn, professor of chemistry, said he hoped the next president would continue the "openness and transparency” between the faculty and administration that was established by President James Wright. Winn also said that “interdisciplinarity and the lone scholar both have a place at Dartmouth.” John Watanabe, associate professor of anthropology, suggested that the new president should be a scholar so he can easily relate to the faculty. “Having someone who has been on a faculty… and is willing to engage faculty is very important. We are concerned deeply about educating our students.”
Noting that the next president “could affect me for years, decades,” Assistant Professor of Mathematics Alex Barnett said he wanted Dartmouth to maintain the welcoming tone set by President Wright and Susan DeBevoise Wright. “We need to continue this tradition,” said Barnett, who added that setting this inclusive tone is especially important for retaining a young and diverse faculty.
As the meeting came to a close, Drysdale seemed to capture the sentiment of many of the faculty members when he said to Mulley and Haldeman: “Good luck!”
By STEVEN J. SMITH
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