The members of the College's presidential search committee, charged with selecting the 16th president of Dartmouth College, should be announced within the next 24 hours -- two days after the Board of Trustees held their quarterly meeting, according to Trustee William H. King, Jr '63, the chairman of the committee.
King spent yesterday afternoon contacting and confirming the acceptance of the members of the committee.
The search committee will be composed of 14 members -- six faculty members, six Trustees, one alumni representative, and one student representative. King said the members will reflect the diversity of the different constituencies at Dartmouth.
The Board formally decided on the composition of the committee this weekend. All of the members came recommended to the Board.
King said the committee will conduct a broad and diverse search and will be assisted by a professional firm. While they have yet to set a timeline, King said they will be meeting by the early part of December. In the spring, the group will submit a list of nominees to the full Board, which has the final vote on the president.
The committee was chosen to work together "so all stones are turned over" in the search for the next president, King said. Most of the search committee's meetings will be held on weekends and in locations convenient for the 14 members, he said.
King said he had already received nomination letters for the next College president before he was even named chair of the search committee. He said people are very interested in this search, and the presidency is a "very sought after position" because of Dartmouth's excellent academic reputation.
College President James Freedman announced in September that he was stepping down sometime after Commencement this summer.
The last time Dartmouth conducted a search for a president was when David T. McLaughlin announced he was resigning in the fall of 1986. After a several month search in late 1986 and early 1987, Freedman was named the next College president in April, 1987.
