The Alumni Council recently named three candidates as nominees for an alumni seat on the College's Board of Trustees.
The Council selected Roger Aaron '64, Herbert "Barry" Grove '73 and Jonathan Newcomb '68 as the finalists to fill the alumni trustee position being vacated in June by Ann Fritz Hackett '76.
A ballot with the candidates' names will be mailed to all alumni in March and the new trustee will be announced in April.
Aaron is a partner in the New York City law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom.
A Phi Beta Kappa, he graduated magna cum laude. Since graduating he has been active in alumni affairs, particularly fund-raising, and has been class agent, head agent and reunion giving chair and also a member of the reunion giving committee.
Aaron was class president and is a member of the class's executive committee. He is currently a member of the Major Gifts Committee for the Will to Excel capital campaign.
"As I see it, Dartmouth has many more strengths than it does weaknesses," Aaron said. He said those strengths include a strong and unique undergraduate program, an excellent faculty and a diverse student body.
One of the most important roles of a trustee is to "implement and maintain those strengths," he said.
Grove is the managing director of Manhattan Theater Club Inc. of New York City. Since leaving Dartmouth he has been an assistant professor of theater and general manager of University of Rhode Island's theater department. He has also been an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Arts.
A Dartmouth drama major, Grove has remained active in alumni affairs. He was president of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of New York City from 1987 to 1991 and is currently a member of the Hopkins Center/Hood Museum Board of Overseers.
The Board of Trustees, Grove said, should "first and foremost keep Dartmouth both cherishing tradition while moving ahead."
"Dartmouth needs to continue to be a leader in every field it is training its students in," he said.
Newcomb was appointed president and chief executive officer of Simon and Schuster Inc., a consumer, education, business and reference publishing operation, last year.
He is a board member of the Literacy Volunteers of New York City and of the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
An economics major while at Dartmouth, Newcomb has been a fund-raising volunteer at Dartmouth and is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration..
Newcomb said he had developed a great interest in higher education working at Simon and Schuster.
He said the Trustees focus should remain on "ensuring the quality of undergraduate education."
A member of the Greek System while at Dartmouth, Newcomb said the administration needs to play a role in maintaining balance in the social options on campus.
"I think the Greek System has been a positive and vital part of the social fabric at Dartmouth but it has not always adapted to the changing aspects of the student body as well as it might have," he said.
Hackett will step down in June after 12 years on the Board. She served two five-year terms and a special two-year term after Robert Reich '68 left the Board in 1992 to become Secretary of Labor.
