"The problem with holding mice is that they reach over and bite you," says newly named interim Provost Constance Brinckerhoff about her days as a postdoctoral fellow of immunology in Dartmouth's microbiology department. At the time, she was studying tumor immunology in the snippety rodents.
Twenty-seven years later she smiles and shakes her head as she reminisces. "I had no idea I would be here after all these years. To start out as a post doc. and end up provost ... it just doesn't compute."
Brinckerhoff still seems mildly shocked when she discusses the day Wright asked her to serve as interim provost. "He just called me into his office and asked if I would do it," Brinckerhoff says. "Jim Wright was gracious enough to choose me."
Possibly it was Brinckerhoff who was gracious to accept the offer, considering the numerous responsibilities she will have to bear during her time as provost.
Besides serving as future President Wright's right-hand woman until a permanent provost can be found, Brinckerhoff will continue conducting her enzyme research and teaching at the medical school. She is researching the mechanisms of arthritis enzymes that destroy connective tissue and allow tumors to metastasize.
"I don't have much free time," Brinckerhoff says as her phone rings. "You have to focus and prioritize. You can't do everything but you can figure out what's most important. And don't be afraid to work hard."
Her research assistants seem particularly awed by her stamina. Joni Rutter, Brinckerhoff's laboratory assistant, said, "She doesn't stop working when she goes home. She thinks of ideas while she walks her dog or takes a shower."
Brinckerhoff, who received a Bachelors of Arts at Smith College and a Ph.D. in immunology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, came to Dartmouth as a immunology post doctoral student. Throughout the next three decades she switched to the department of medicine and was promoted to research assistant professor. In 1984, she was named associate professor of medicine with a joint appointment in biochemistry.
Remarkably, during these years Brinckerhoff also managed to raise three children, two of which she had while in graduate school. One of her sons received his M.D. at Dartmouth Medical School, where she now works.
During her free time, what little of it there is, Brinckerhoff likes to go for walks, ride her bike and spend time with her three German shepards.
But she beams through a wide grin when describing the beach: "I can sit there by the hours," she says. "My husband says it is the only time I sit still."
Brinckerhoff met her husband in summer camp in Maine and the two were married two weeks after her college graduation. He is currently the director of guidance at Thetford Academy.
This summer, Dartmouth's new provost will be anything but lazy. Constance Brinckerhoff follows her own advice: "Opportunities are seldom labeled. Listen to your gut and don't be afraid to work hard."
