Congratulations to Joaquin Vallarino! The Inter-American Council for Trade and Production has honored Val by creating the J.J. Vallarino Medal, to be awarded annually to the student in the M.B.A program at the council’s business school who best describes his or her school experience, the benefits of the program to the region and the ways in which the program has changed his or her life. Well deserved!


The year 2013 set a new gifts record for Dartmouth, with the College receiving $46 million and, in the process, creating a new participation record of 44.5 percent. The graduate schools set fundraising records as well.


Ninety-nine percent of Dartmouth’s student-athletes graduated, setting a record for the second straight year among NCAA Division I institutions (tied by Brown and the University of Notre Dame). To quote Harry Sheehy, director of athletics: “Their ability to balance the rigors of a Dartmouth undergraduate education and a championship-driven Division I experience is outstanding.” 


Dartmouth is planning a series of biweekly discussions with students, faculty and staff to explore where the College is going and how it will get there. Called “Moving Dartmouth Forward,” the discussions’ first subject will be Dartmouth’s D Plan, the College’s quarterly calendar.


Carolyn Dever, dean of Vanderbilt’s College of Arts and Science, will become Dartmouth’s new provost on July 1. At Vanderbilt she oversaw 45 academic programs and 13 research centers with an annual budget of $180 million.


The National Academy of Engineering awarded the 2014 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Engineering and Technology Education to four members of the Thayer School faculty. It’s tantamount to a Nobel Prize in their field—a national recognition. 


The Geisel School of Medicine has received $6.25 million for research in neurology. This gift from Susan Diamond, whose mother suffered from Alzheimer’s, was given to Geisel after Diamond’s research indicated where the leading neurological studies were under way.


We regret to report the deaths of Richard H. Proctor, Gilbert L. Augenblick and John C. Troster. Our condolences to their families.


—John M. Jenkins, 80 Lyme Road, Apt. 304, Hanover, NH 03755; (603) 643-2757; mmjenkins@kahres.kendal.org