The committee charged with finding a replacement for former Dean of the Thayer School of Engineering Elsa Garmire has narrowed its search down to three or four candidates.
Engineering Professor Horst Richter, who chairs the committee, said there are three finalists with one more pending further review.
The list could expand to five, Richter said, but "more than five would be unmanageable."
The committee will present a short list to Provost James Wright by April, and he will appoint the dean in consultation with College President James Freedman by the end of Spring term.
Garmire resigned from the post at the beginning of last summer after serving less than two years in the post.
Garmire, who came from the University of Southern California's Center for Laser Studies, was the first female dean in the history of the Thayer School.
Charles Hutchinson, who was dean of the Thayer School for 10 years before Garmire took over, has been serving as the acting dean since summer.
The search committee, which convened in the fall, also includes Engineering Professor George Cybenko, Amos Tuck School of Business Professor William Joyce, Thayer Board of Overseers Chairman John Krehbiel, Biology Professor George Langford, Special Assistant to the President Lucretia Martin, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Surgery Professor Michael Mayor, Engineering Professor Erland Schulson and Engineering Professor Linda Wilson.
"We are looking for the same thing we were when we appointed [Garmire] -- someone committed to research and education, who can advance the institution," Wright said.
Dartmouth's integration of undergraduate and graduate students distinguishes Thayer from many other engineering schools, and the new dean must be "compatible with Dartmouth's and Thayer's unique education environment," Hutchinson said.
Richter said "Dartmouth is special because it is interdisciplinary. People are interested in coming just because of this."
The new dean will probably begin serving on July 1, the beginning of Dartmouth's next academic year.
Wright said the main subjects the new dean will address are recruiting faculty, faculty size, classroom space and financial issues.
