Professor John Strohbehn served his last day as Provost Wednesday after guiding the College's daily operations and long-term planning for seven years.
Strohbehn, a member of the faculty for 30 years, will return to teaching and research in the Thayer School of Engineering after taking a year sabbatical to conduct research at Princeton University.
Strohbehn chaired the Planning Steering Committee, which worked from 1988 to 1990 to produce a report outlining the College's long-term institutional goals.
Chief among them were curriculum reform and campus expansion to the north of Baker library without significant change to the size of the student body.
Dean of Faculty James Wright served on the six-person budget committee chaired by Strohbehn that was formed in 1989 to deal with the College's first budget crisis.
"He was an exceptional Provost during the budgetary discussions of the past four years," Wright said. "His own priorities and values were consistent with those of the institution."
"He was a good friend and strong advocate of the faculty and academic values of Dartmouth," Wright said. "We're going to miss him."
When Strohbehn was named acting Provost in 1987 by outgoing President David McLaughlin, incoming President James Freedman delegated more power to the position, making Strohbehn the College' s chief academic officer. The Provost position held new leadership over the undergraduate college, including oversight of the Offices of the Dean of Faculty and Dean of Students, the library system, Hopkins Center, Admissions office and computer services.
`Freedman announced the Provost's decision to return to the faculty in a letter to senior officials one year ago.
"John's decision is based upon his concern that further delay in returning to his first academic love, research and teaching, would compromise his ability to make further valuable contributions to his field," Freedman wrote.
Associate Provost Bruce Pipes will serve as acting Provost until University of Michigan Law School dean Lee Bollinger takes over one year from now.
Pipes is currently out of town and was unavailable for comment.
