A total of $15.5 million in gifts have been made in honor of outgoing College President James Wright and his wife Susan DeBevoise Wright, the College announced on Tuesday. Wright will step down from his position as president on July 1.
Twelve and a half million dollars will go to the endowment of student scholarships and to the Dartmouth College Fund. Eight million dollars will be used to fund 16 scholars under the "James and Susan DeBevoise Wright Scholarship Fund for Undergraduates," and $1 million will support students at Dartmouth Medical School. Over $2 million will contribute to family scholarship funds at the Tuck School of Business and at the College, while $1.2 million will be added to the Dartmouth College Fund and the Parents Fund, according to a College press release.
An additional $3 million was given by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to establish the James Wright Professorship, a new faculty chair, according to the release. The chair is not restricted to a specific academic subject, and will awarded in recognition scholarship that "transcends normal academic boundaries with the potential to influence intellectual life across the College of Arts and Sciences," according to the press release.
The donations in honor of the Wrights are part of the Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience, a seven-year capital campaign that aims to raise $1.3 billion by the end of 2009. The campaign, which has raised 92 percent of its goal to date, seeks "to advance leading-edge teaching and scholarship; to enhance residential and campus life; to honor its commitment to making education accessible in the undergraduate college; and to raise unrestricted dollars," according to the College's press release.Wright, who has worked at the College in some capacity since 1969, has previously served as a professor, as dean of faculty and as provost.
For the last 10 years, Susan DeBevoise Wright has served as the executive director of the Montgomery Endowment, sponsoring lecturers such as Merce Cunningham, Lucille Clifton, Joan Didion, Mary Robinson and Oliver Sacks. DeBevoise Wright previously served as career services director and as a class dean at the College.
