James Breeden will resign from his position as dean of the Tucker Foundation at the end of August and began a four-month leave of absence yesterday, Acting College President James Wright said.
The Tucker Foundation combines the College's communityservice programs and the College's chaplaincy. Breeden has served as the foundation's dean since 1984 and has been considering resigning for some time, Wright said.
Wright said he and Breeden had been discussing the resignation over the last six weeks.
Wright said Breeden, an Episcopal minister and longtime civil rights activist, decided to take an immediate leave of absence in order to fulfill other commitments within the next four months, which include teaching at a number of other institutions, participating in conferences and traveling.
"He is remarkable in his commitment to service activities and his impact on the moral and spiritual life of the campus is evident," Wright said. "Obviously, we are going to miss him."
In a letter to the Dartmouth community announcing Breeden's resignation, Wright said he had "personally enjoyed having [Breeden] as a colleague and [had] benefited from his counsel."
"We are grateful for all that he has contributed to the College and the Upper Valley communities, and wish him the very best in his future endeavors," Wright wrote.
Breeden could not be reached for comment yesterday either at his office or at his home, where his phone had been disconnected.
Associate Dean of the Tucker Foundation Jan Tarjan will serve as acting dean during Breeden's leave of absence.
Tarjan said the staff of the Tucker Foundation was told of Breeden's resignation yesterday. Tarjan said she believed most of the staff were surprised at Breeden's resignation.
"He was a very generous person to work with," Tarjan said. "He has a deep concern for issues of peace and justice. He is a very spiritual person."
Wright said he hopes to have a nationwide search for Breeden's replacement underway by the summer. The search will involve a "conversation about the nature of the deanship," Wright said. He described the position as "quite a distinguished and important position in this community."
After graduating from Dartmouth in 1959, Breeden earned a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary and received a Ph.D. in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
He has held associate professorships at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and at the University of Massachusetts' College of Public and Community Service. In addition, Breeden has been a professor at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, East Africa, and a trustee of the Episcopal Divinity School.
In 1984, he was director of the Center for Law and Education in Cambridge, Mass.
