The Board of Trustees elected William H. King '63 as their new chair at their June meeting and appointed Russell Carson '65 as a new trustee. They also extended the term of Trustee Kate Stith-Cabranes '73 by one year.
King took over as chair on June 13, replacing Stephen Bosworth '61, ambassador to South Korea. Bosworth's foreign commitments made it increasingly difficult to remain as chair, which led to his decision to step down three years into his five year term. Bosworth will remain on the Board as a member.
"I think Steve Bosworth has been a superb Chair of the Board of Trustees," Wright said citing Bosworth's judgement and understanding of issues of importance to the College. "I was disappointed that he felt he couldn't continue as chair."
King has served on the Board since 1991 as an alumni trustee. King had taken a number of important committee assignments, most recently as chair of the presidential search committee that recommended James Wright be appointed Dartmouth's 16th President, and has been a strong member of the board since his initial appointment, Wright said.
"Everyone respects him and we are all very pleased with his willingness to take on this additional assignment," Wright said.
After Dartmouth, King received a fellowship at Athens College in Athens, Greece, and attended the University of Virginia Law School. An authority on the management of national product liability, King is a partner and the vice chair at the law firm McGuire, Woods, Battle and Boothe.
Wright said the change in leadership would not alter the timeline of the Student Life Initiative.
The Steering Committee should deliver their report on the Initiative at the next official board meeting in November, President Wright told The Dartmouth. "Nobody has said anything about a change in that schedule."
At a meeting just days after the initial announcement of the controversial Initiative, King said he believed a coeducational Greek system would better prepare students for life after Dartmouth but said the idea of a "parallel system" in which social options would be expanded instead of replacing parts of the Greek system was "worthy of discussion" saying he didn't want "to close the door to that."
In addition to King's appointment as chair, the Board appointed Carson a member of the Board. Carson is filling the position vacated by Andrew C. Sigler '53 who retired after 10 years on the Board.
Before joining the board Carson served the College as a member of the Dean's Council and the President's Leadership Council. No stranger to Dartmouth, Carson made it to campus at least twice a year, but expects to come to campus no fewer that four or five times a year as a Trustee.
As a member of the various organizations, Carson has had "extensive meetings with faculty and students." Joining the Board of Trustees now with the impending on Residential and Social Life Initiative makes for an "interesting" assignment, Carson said. "I have an open mind on the Student Life Initiative."
"The most exciting part is to be able to give something back to my alma mater, hopefully making other peoples experience as good as my experience when I went [to Dartmouth]," he said.
At Dartmouth, Carson was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. After Dartmouth, Carson received a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia Business School. In addition to positions he has held at Dartmouth, Carson is a Trustee of Rockefeller University, Vice Chair of the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School and a Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The decision to extend Stith-Cabranes's term was to provide continual leadership over the College's many building projects like Wilder Hall and Whittemore Hall, Wright said. "We have a number of projects underway ... and I think the Board felt that continuity at this time would be very important."
Stith-Cabranes will also hopefully lead the planning of new residence and social space in the next year, Wright said.
The Trustees' next official business meeting will be in November.
