A search committee to find a replacement dean of admissions and financial aid announced its membership Wednesday. Theater professor Peter Hackett will chair the committee as it looks for outgoing Dean Karl Furstenberg's successor.
The committee will be comprised of seven faculty members and two students. Provost Barry Scherr wanted members representing the humanities, social sciences and natural science disciplines.
"I want to express my gratitude in advance to the committee members for agreeing to take on this important task," Scherr said in a press release Wednesday.
Religion professor Reiko Ohnuma, mathematics professor Carolyn Gordon and history professor David Lagomarsino will serve on the committee alongside Barry Harwick from the athletics department. Juliette Bianco from the Hood Museum, and Development Senior Philanthropic Advisor Jerry Nunnally will also be on the committee.
Scherr is in the process of selecting two student committee members from a group of candidates chosen by Student Assembly.
The group will convene for its first meeting during the next two weeks and plans to advertise for the positions during the upcoming months. Scherr anticipates that the committee will bring the final candidates to campus at the end of Winter term. If the group proceeds on schedule, the new dean will begin at Dartmouth next fall.
Scherr is optimistic about the search, noting that his main concern is keeping the task force on schedule.
Although the group has not begun to discuss the qualities it envisions in the next dean of admissions, Scherr noted that he hopes to continue the positive elements of Furstenberg's tenure.
"He did an absolutely wonderful job about getting the word out about Dartmouth to students around the country and selecting broadly representative classes," Scherr said. "He brings in people from all over the United States from different backgrounds. His ability to run that operation was absolutely first rate."
Scherr said he hoped Furstenberg's successor can articulate himself on admissions and financial aid issues as well as the outgoing dean.
The committee will not take into account applicants' views toward early admissions, he said.
"In general, admissions are complicated these days. We're looking for someone with a fair amount of experience, and there are so many things a person has to be aware of," Scherr said. "It's not a job for someone without that extensive experience already."
