Provost Susan Prager announced that she will leave the College July 1, 2001 after only two years serving as Dartmouth's provost -- second only in administrative rank to College President James Wright.
Although Prager's tenure at Dartmouth seems brief, it is not atypically so.
Both Wright, who served one year as provost before becoming College president in 1998, and his predecessor, Lee Bollinger, who was provost for two years before leaving to become president of the University of Michigan, worked in similar time frames.
When Prager talked last night with The Dartmouth, she emphasized that her decision to leave the College was not motivated by a bad experience here. Nor was it catalyzed, she said, by offers from other universities -- although she acknowledged that she has received some even since this past fall, when she was considered among three candidates for the top position at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Rather, she said her decision to resign seemed right for the time, noting that Dean of the Faculty Ed Berger's December decision to step down from his role influenced her final move.
She explained that the College might "wish to think about particular individuals in one or another of the roles" of provost and dean of the faculty, and it made sense for the decisions to be made jointly, saying such an informed decision "would contribute to a smooth transition."
In a Jan. 12 letter to the faculty and staff she wrote that it would be favorable if, "the President and the faculty could consider now how the selection of a new Dean of the Faculty should go forward in the context of the need to point a new Provost as well."
She also implied similar presidential ambitions as the two provosts who proceeded her at Dartmouth.
In her letter she wrote: "As you know, I am interested in a broader leadership role, and it is likely that I will be talking with other institutions about possible positions during the coming months."
Prager has not kept this goal of a "broader leadership role" under wraps during her tenure at Dartmouth.
During Fall term, Prager was considered among three finalists for the chancellorship at the University of Wisconsin at Madison -- a position similar to the presidency at Dartmouth -- but was turned down in favor of a strong internal candidate.
At the time, she told The Dartmouth, "I have been interested for quite a long time in leadership roles in higher education."
And during the summer she acknowledged that she would be interested in presiding over a university eventually if she was the "right fit for the school" -- one whose agenda parallels her visions.
Wright told The Dartmouth yesterday that he has "known for some time Susan Prager's interest in pursuing broader responsibility." He noted that she has been a "good colleague" and said he encourages Prager to pursue her goals.
A move up in the ranks of academia will not be a stretch for Prager, who has led a long and powerful career.
Before coming to Dartmouth, Prager was Dean of the Law School at the University of California at Los Angeles from 1982 to 1998. She was the Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Professor of Law from 1992 through 1998, and from 1979 to 1982, she was UCLA's associate law school dean. In addition, Prager was a Trustee at Stanford, where she did undergraduate and graduate work, from 1976 to 1980 and from 1987 to 1997.
Since she arrived in Hanover, only two weeks before the Student Life Initiative was announced, Prager has been Dartmouth's chief academic officer. In this capacity, she has been highly involved in both the day-to-day running and the long-term projects of the College -- making decisions about new building projects, hiring people for key administrative positions, spending time with faculty and other staff, meeting alumni and leading fundraising efforts.
"I think I have brought a perspective from someone who comes from outside to Dartmouth," Prager told the Dartmouth Fall term, assessing her time at the College.
At the time, she said she made contributions to academic and student residential and social life as well as "our needs for space," as well as being involved in some important recruitments including that of the new dean of the Tucker Foundation, Stuart Lord, and a new College librarian -- the first in 20 years, among other responsibilities.
In the rest of her time here, Prager said she plans to focus on framing academic and financial plans for the College.
The academic report has been a long time in the making and is currently in the faculty consultation stage, she said, explaining that the College is waiting to complete faculty consultation before moving forward with its release.
She said she could not say whether the report would be revolutionary at the moment, calling it "a whole detailed conversation."
Wright said yesterday that by the time Prager leaves the College she will have done a lot of the preliminary work for it.
According to Wright, the College will not tarry in creating a search committee to select a new provost. He revealed that he will start meeting with faculty groups over the next couple of weeks and said he hopes to assemble a search committee in the next few days.
Prager said she did not anticipate that her new, freer status would be an advantage or a disadvantage to her as she looks for a new position. She indicated that her strong record of leadership in universities should speak for itself.
She said, "I do want to think about some other searches, if they come along and they look like the kind of opportunities that would be good for me. I find that very difficult to do for me when I'm in the midst of this very demanding role."
Prager said she has no definite plans at the moment except for taking time to "step back and do a little more thinking."
"I really love all aspects of academic communities," she said. "I like teaching, research and I love administration and the problem solving that it involves."
In her letter she wrote, "it is likely that I will be talking with other institutions about possible positions during the coming months, though the attractions of returning to the UCLA law faculty are also considerable."
Despite her short tenure at Dartmouth, Prager emphasized that she will look back fondly her time here.
"I think that there are two quite different but related things that will be in most vivid mind," she forecasted. "First, the many wonderful faculty and staff who I've been able to work with here, and secondly, the challenge and the excitement of the very large agenda that we've been pursuing in this time period."
Top administrators have said that they will miss Prager when she leaves. Wright, who said Prager came to her decision over the holidays, wrote in a Jan. 12 letter "I have made clear to her my desire to keep her, but I respect, as I regret, her decision. I am extremely grateful for her distinguished service to Dartmouth -- she is a talented administrator, a wonderful colleague, and we have been lucky to have her here."
And James Larimore, who has known Prager since they sat together on a presidential selection committee at Stanford University about a decade ago, told The Dartmouth in the fall when she was being considered for the Wisconsin position, "My own hope is that Susan would remain with the Dartmouth community, but they would be very fortunate to have her."
