The ranking of Dartmouth's graduate business school has fallen seven spots because of the departure last spring of Edward Fox, whose term as dean was not extended by the College, according to a new survey.
The biennial survey released this week by Business Week magazine said Fox's "ouster" disrupted the academic atmosphere at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, causing the decline in ranking.
Fox resigned from his position as Dean of the Tuck School last spring after he was denied a second four-year term. The decision not to re-appoint Fox came after what administrators called a "standard review" of Fox's performance.
But sources close to the process speculated that the College's decision was precipitated by a falling-out between Fox and College President James Freedman, who headed the review committee along with then acting Provost Bruce Pipes.
Fox's "abrupt departure exposed students to what they called the 'petty politics' of a few outspoken faculty members who wrote critical letters about the dean to the president," the magazine stated.
"I think it is absurd for a school to fall from six to 13 in the span of two years," Freedman said. "It calls into question the whole methodology of the survey," he said.
"I don't think anyone doubts that Tuck is among the top half dozen business schools in the country," Freedman said.
Freedman declined to comment on the alleged falling out between himself and Fox.
Paul Argenti, Tuck's communications director said, "This is a devastating thing to any institution but this is a very solid school."
"I hope our reputation is stronger than one survey," he said.
Business Week's ranking is based on surveys of graduates from 44 of the world's most prominent business schools and 354 companies that recruit business school graduates.
Tuck's rank among students dropped from first in 1992 to 14th this year while the corporate ranking remained 12th.
"The students evaluated the school soon after Dean Fox resigned," Paul Argenti, Tuck's communications director said. "It's hard for people not to perceive this type of change in a negative way."
In addition to Fox's departure the magazine attributed Tuck's drop in ranking to its "small size and remote location," which inhibits corporations from recruiting the school's students, the magazine stated.
But Argenti said he questioned this conclusion and called attention to the consistency in the ranking by corporations. He also noted the survey's report that Tuck graduates earn the fourth highest starting salaries.
The average starting salary is $95,410, the magazine reported. The average starting salary from the top-ranked school, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, is $89,330. Graduates from fifth-ranked Harvard University earn starting salaries of $102,630, the highest among business schools.
"We are all very shocked and dismayed," said Tuck Business Administration Professor Colin Blaydon, who is serving as Interim Dean. "We intend to learn from the survey and do something about it," he said.
Blaydon, who served as Tuck's Dean from 1983 to 1990, acknowledged that Fox's departure played a role in Tuck's decline in ranking.
"This happened at a time when there was a fair amount of uncertainty and turmoil due to the departure of Ed Fox," Blaydon said.
Fox, reached on a business trip in New York City, said he is surprised by Tuck's overall drop in ranking, but particularly surprised by the fall in ranking among graduates.
"Historically, Tuck has been first among students and 10th or 12th among corporations," Fox said. "I guess there has been a change in perception."
Fox declined to comment about the article's conclusion that his departure caused Tuck's decline.
"I am disappointed -- Tuck is a hell of a lot better than that," Fox said. "I hope this is an aberration."
Fox also declined to comment on his relationship with Freedman.
"I have never commented on the experience of last spring and I am not going to start now," he said.
Pipes, who is now the Deputy Provost, declined to comment on the change in ranking. "I have not seen the rankings and would rather not comment until I have read the article," he said.
Blaydon, who said he is not being considered as a candidate for the permanent Dean's position, said the search for Fox's replacement is "moving vigorously."
Fox said he is now retired and added that he "serves on seven or eight boards."
"I am delighted with my life now," Fox said.
Under Fox's leadership, Tuck consistently moved up through the top ten national rankings. Before coming to Tuck in 1990, Fox founded the Student Loan Marketing Association, commonly known as Sallie Mae, a Forbes 500 company.
In March, U.S. News & World Report ranked Tuck seventh in its annual survey of business schools. It ranked eighth in 1993 and 10th in 1992.
