Presidential Search

Barely a month after John Kemeny publicly announced his plan to resign, the process for selecting Dartmouth's 14th president was well underway. By late May, the trustee search committee had held a full meeting in Hanover, established an office staffed by an executive secretary, Elizabeth Dycus, in Parkhurst Hall, and received, according to Dycus, "a lot" of names suggested as presidential timber. Most of the early suggestions came from alumni, she said, by letter and telephone and occasionally by personal visit.

The trustee search committee consists of Walter Burke '44, the chairman, Berl Bernhard '51, Priscilla Frechette, Richard Hill '41, and Robert Kilmarx '5O. They are being assisted by an advisory group 0f six members of the general faculty, two students, and two alumni, Robert Brace '52 and Robert Henderson '53. Brace and Henderson are appointees of the Alumni Council.

Burke said the search committee and the advisory group would "work together hand-in-glove" in assessing candidates in- terviewing, and doing background research. They plan monthly meetings but probably will increase the pace of the search, including interview trips by some members to other parts of the country, as time goes on. Asked if the deadline of August 1, 1981, provided enough time to do the job, Burke said that the trustees "have already had unlimited discussions as to the state of the College" and its needs five or ten years hence and that it would be "fairly easy to come up with a list of re- quired credentials."

In consultation with the advisory group, the search committee intends to prepare a short list of candidates for consideration by the full Board of Trustees, which will elect the next president.