Nina Pavcnik will be the inaugural dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, according to a campus-wide email sent by College President Sian Leah Beilock and provost Santiago Schnell on Thursday. Pavcnik — who has served as interim dean of arts and sciences since January 2025 — will assume the role on July 1.
Pavcnik was selected after a search conducted by an advisory committee of students, faculty and administrators. The search committee, which was chaired by psychological and brain sciences professor Thalia Wheatley, aimed to select a “visionary leader committed to Dartmouth’s extraordinary student experience,” according to an email to campus from Beilock announcing the start of the search in September 2025.
Pavcnik joined Dartmouth as an economics professor in 1999 after earning a PhD from Princeton University and a B.A. from Yale University, according to the email from Beilock and Schnell. She has also served as the Niehaus Family professor in international studies in the economics department since 2010.
The School of Arts and Sciences was formed in July 2025 through a merger of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Division of Undergraduate Education and the Division of Undergraduate Student Affairs.
Pavcnik has a “deep understanding of the new school’s purpose,” according to Beilock and Schnell.
“The School of Arts and Sciences is enhancing how we provide an exceptional, vibrant, and quintessential Dartmouth experience,” Beilock and Schnell wrote. “Nina knows this well.”
Beilock and Schnell added that Pavcnik’s selection is a “critical step” in the process of rolling out the School of Arts and Sciences.
“Much work has happened to bring us to this point, and more work lies ahead,” Beilock and Schnell wrote. “It is an exciting moment for Dartmouth to see the progress and imagine its future.”
Jeremiah Rayban is a reporter and editor for The Dartmouth from Wilmington, Del., majoring in economics. Outside of The D, he enjoys reading, art and trivia.
