Dean of Thayer Engineering School Charles Hutchinson will step down next June after ten years of service to the College to return to what he loves doing most -- teaching.
Hutchinson will take a year's sabbatical before returning to Thayer as a professor of computer and electrical engineering.
A search committee, chaired by Engineering Professor Graham Wallis, will soon be appointed to find Hutchinson's successor.
Hutchinson said there was no point in being in the education business if he did not like to teach. "I miss the classroom, there's no question about it," he said.
Although Hutchinson has been teaching one class every year, he said he regrets not being able to teach more but admits his schedule does not permit him to do so.
"It's extremely hard to do because of my traveling schedule. It's extremely hard being here 10 weeks in a row when you have to fund-raise. And I hate missing classes," he said.
Under Hutchinson's administration, Thayer School achieved tremendous progress. The faculty and student body increased more than 50 percent and sponsored research funding tripled to more than $6 million this academic year.
In addition, Thayer School raised $26 million independently of the College in a four-year capital campaign that ended in May 1989, according to former Provost John Strohbehn.
The drive made possible a $15 million expansion that increased classroom space and added new laboratories for semiconductor research and biotechnology.
Thayer School is now in the process of raising $12 million as part of the College's Will To Excel capital campaign.
Hutchinson also made significant contributions toward bridging the gap between the professional and undergraduate schools.
The Women In Science Project, which encourages women undergraduates to pursue careers in science, was started at Thayer under his leadership. Classes like The Digital World, Sailing Technology and Everyday Technology were created to offer science and technology experiences to non-major undergraduates.
"We feel good about [the new courses]. We have tried to emphasize the undergraduate research experience," Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson completed his undergradaute studies at Illinois Institute of Technology at Chicago. He finished his graduate studies in 1963 at Stanford University, where he met Strohbehn.
After working for several years in the aerospace engineering business, Hutchinson went to the University of Massachusetts in 1969, where he taught for 19 years and served as Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1978 to 1982.
But returning to teaching is not new to Hutchinson. Before coming to Dartmouth as the Dean of Thayer School, Hutchinson had stepped down as Head of the Electrical Engineering department to teach again.
