Dean Neidlinger Resigns At End of College Year
Joseph L. McDonald, Economics Professor, Named His Successor
LLOYD K. NEIDLINGER '23, Dean of the College, will bring 19 years of Dartmouth administrative service to a close when the academic year ends this month.
His resignation, submitted on March 11, was regretfully accepted at the April meeting of the Board of Trustees. At that time the Board also elected a new Dean of the College Prof. Joseph L. McDonald, who has been a member of the Dartmouth Economics Department since 1923.
News of Dean Neidlinger's resignation came as a complete surprise to the College and created a burst of excitement that was topped off by one of the rare "extras" of The Dartmouth. The answer to the immediate and universal query "Why?" was provided by the Dean's own statement:
"The decision to surrender my position at Dartmouth has resulted from a long and deliberate examination of conscience and duty. I have a profound respect for the office with which I have been so long entrusted and for the College it has been my privilege to serve. I no longer feel equal to bearing the burdens and responsibilities that the Dean of the College must accept and I now am without confidence that I may find, in time, satisfactory solutions to the familiar problems that are repeatedly present for the Dean to solve. I think that I have served long enough, if not too long, as Dean and I believe that I can now best serve the College by voluntarily giving way to someone who can approach these problems with fresh interest, fertile imagination and uninhibited confidence.
"I have no plans for the future beyond taking advantage of the terminal leave the Trustees have very generously allowed me to rest and recuperate temporarily before searching in the near future for some useful employment which I can undertake with an interest and enthusiasm equal to its new and different challenges and opportunities."
The Dean of the College has as much routine work as any other administrative officer, maybe more; and to his almost daily lot of problems academic, disciplinary, social are added all those that are never in short supply because of accident, personal tragedy, or the lunatic fringe to be found in any sizable student body. To one who has labored so incessantly and conscientiously as Dean Neidlinger has and who has given so much of himself in seeking the answers to "the familiar problems that are repeatedly present for the Dean to solve," 18 years is understandably a long time. Boiling his formal statement down to one short sentence for the benefit of his Hanover friends, Dean Neidlinger last month said, "It's just that I'm tired of being the Dean."
"Being the Dean" began for him in 1934, after one year as Assistant Dean under the late Craven Laycock '96. During the years since, he more than any other individual has fashioned and encouraged the modern development at Dartmouth of greater student participation and responsibility in the government of the College. The dormitory committee system, the present fraternity program and the Undergraduate Council, now enjoying its most successful year, are major aspects of this movement in student life. The College Health Service, established in 1936 and headed by Dean Neidlinger until 1947, is another important development which he helped to shape. During the war years, as is true of the present "cold war" period, his counsel and help with regard to military service were a boon to an untold number of Dartmouth men.
In addition to the appreciation voiced by the Board of Trustees, President Dickey in announcing Dean Neidlinger's resignation paid this tribute to him:
"Dean Neidlinger has been a truly devoted servant of Dartmouth. He has made contributions to the welfare of the College community and individual students which go beyond any man's knowledge and appreciation. I have never worked with a more loyal and dedicated associate. He has earned both the relief from strain he seeks and the warm gratitude of all Dartmouth men for the service which has always gone beyond even the call of his strenuous duty."
The New Dean Professor McDonald, who has accepted appointment as Dean of the College, was graduated from the University of Indiana in 1915. After teaching economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and at the University of Minnesota, he came to Dartmouth as instructor in 1923 and advanced to the rank of full professor by 1930. From 1927 to 1949 Professor McDonald taught both in the undergraduate college and in Tuck School, where he held the title of Professor of Foreign Trade. Although now dropping his teaching duties, he is not likely to give up his interest in international economics in which he has specialized. This interest took him abroad several times from 1928 to 1936 and led to his being a delegate in 1931 to the Fourth Pan American Commercial Conference.
Professor McDonald, an honorary member of the Class of 1920 and one of the most popular members of the faculty, is well known to Dartmouth alumni and has spoken at a number of club dinners. He has served on the Dartmouth Athletic Council and has always had a keen interest in athletics and undergraduate affairs. Approaching 60 (his age next November), Professor McDonald is still a man of vigor and enthusiasm, possessed of a sense of humor which he no doubt will have to call upon often enough in his new position. Of the job ahead, he said:
"I have accepted the invitation to become Dean of the College only after long and careful thought. One does not give up lightly a teaching career of 35 years, 30 of which have been spent at Dartmouth under pleasant circumstances. My relations with colleagues and students over this long period have been happy. I sincerely hope they will continue to be so. Whatever difficulties the new job may present will provide a challenge which I will try to meet to the best of my ability."
DEAN-ELECT JOSEPH L. McDONALD
Bouchan DEAN NEIDUNGER OUTSIDE THE PARKHURST HALL OFFICE HE WILL LEAVE IN JUNE
THE NEIDLINGER FAMILY, active and popular in Hanover life, also has contributed a special charm and vivacity due to the fact that it is four-fifths feminine. Above, Marion Neidlinger is shown with husband "Pudge" and Charles A. Proctor '00, emeritus professor of physics, at a recent Winter Carnival.
THE NEIDUNGER DAUGHTERS have been in the Hanover limelight all during the years spanned by these two pictures. Left, the first winter after Dean Neidlinger took office found him in the role of assistant snow sculptor for Mary, then 7 and the twins Solly and Susan, 5. Right, Sally and twelve years later, by which time they had earned national reputations as two of the country's crack girl skiers. Sally (right or left) was on the U.S. Olympic team this year.
COLLEGE DEANS IN 1943: Dean Neidlinger on the Ad Building steps with President Hopkins and the late Deans E. Gordon Bill and Robert C. Strong.
WITH PRESIDENT DICKEY, Dean Neidlinger is shown greeting guests at the annual reception at the President's House during Commencement.
A COMPETENT PAINTER, Dean Neidlinger has found recreation in sketching trips with Paul Sample '20, Dartmouth's artist in residence.
ON THE ALUMNI CIRCUIT, where he has been a popular speaker, Dean Neidlinger poses with George M. Morris '11 and John L. Sullivan '21.
COMMENCEMENT MARSHAL: Dean Neidlinger this month for the last time leads the academic procession into the Bema for graduation ceremonies.
IN THE FAMILIAR SPOT where he has worked for 18 years, Dean Neidlinger is shown giving military service advice to undergraduates in 1942.
