In September a crowd of about 2,800 celebrated the inauguration of Philip Hanlon ’77 as Dartmouth’s 18th president and the convocation of Dartmouth’s 244th year. Dr. Hanlon, in his address, outlined two new initiatives: a society of fellows program and an innovation center and new venture incubator. The plan is to expand graduate programs, as Dartmouth currently lags behind its Ivy League peers in its number of graduate students and postdocs. Dartmouth is renowned for its undergraduate programs and there is no thought of graduate students replacing faculty to teach undergraduates, as is a common practice in many other universities.


For the fifth year in a row Dartmouth was ranked No. 1 for its “strong commitment to teaching” and ranked 10th overall in the U.S News & World Report list of the best national colleges and universities.


There has been much media attention given to the future of liberal arts in an increasingly technological world. However, Joseph Helble, dean of Thayer School, recently said, “Liberal arts really teaches us to question, to explore broadly, to not accept a particular truth as a given.”


Congratulations to Dartmouth for having more tenured women on its faculty than any other Ivy League school and for receiving an $18 million grant from the National Institute of Health to develop ways to bring scientific discoveries out of the research labs and into clinical practice. The grant will be matched by a $20 million grant from the Geisel School of Medicine and the DHMC health system.


Though Dartmouth was one of the four Ivies to post deficits in 2013, its deficit was the smallest at $1.8 million (Harvard $33.7 million; Yale $39.2). Dartmouth’s comment: “[The College] is committed to a cultural shift [based on the expectation that] federal funds for education will diminish, endowment growth will slow and the cost of tuition must stabilize.” In reference to tuition, President Hanlon has said, “Tuition rates will remain flat in real terms, being pegged to the overall rate of inflation.”


In the future Howie Leavitt’s newsletters may include excerpts from classmate obituaries that appear online. I’m happy to send hard copies of the complete obits to those who don’t want to check the website, www.dartmouthalumnimagazine. com.


I am sorry to report the death of Scott H. Mitchell. Condolences to his family.


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