PROFILE: Bruce Sacerdote '90
TEACHING EXPERIENCE: Walpole, Massachusetts, native Sacerdote, 36, had noformal experience prior to being hired byDartmouth as an assistant professor ofeconomics in 1998, but he wasn't nervous. "We all have teaching in us," hesays. "We've experienced so much education in our lives that we at least havesome clue about what works." A full professor since June 2005, he teaches thesenior seminar in finance and serves asdepartment vice chairman.
EDUCATION: B.A. in economics (class salutacorian); Ph.D. in economics, Harvard, 1997.
CLAIM TO FAME: "Being mentioned on page 176 of Freakonomics," chuckles Sacerdote, referring to Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's national bestseller, which cites Sacerdote's paper "The Nature and Nurture of Economic Outcomes." Analyzing three adoption studies that assessed long-term quantitative effects of parenting on adoptees, Sacerdote found that adoptive parents' economic and educational advantages have little effect on their adoptive children's short-term school performance but influence longerterm phenomena such as college attendance, income and age at marriage. His analysis of American vs. European work habits was referenced in a November issue of The New Yorker.
PEER EFFECTS: Sacerdote also gained national attention for his research on peer effects among randomly assigned Dartmouth roommates. "I'm fairly persuaded there is at least a modest effect from a roommate on academic performance, and if you think about all the interactions students have, you've got to assume that the total effect from all of their peers is really big," he says. "It's the effects on social outcomes that really matter—one chance meeting of a new friend often leads to an entire career choice."
SPEAKiNG OF CAREER CHOICES: "I was so excited to come back to the Upper Valley," says Sacerdote. "I don't think I would have become a professor had I not received an offer from Dartmouth." His knowledge of the campus gives him valuable insights into students' lives, he says. "If I'm teaching first-years, I know to cut back on their workload because they should be building the bonfire the third week of October. I know what it's like to come back to school on January 2 when all of your friends from home have the month off." A Sigma Nu, he also "gets" fraternities.
THOUGHTS ON DARTMOUTH: Enthusiastic about the caliber of Dartmouth students, Sacerdote considers them the "best thing about the College." "They teach themselves, each other and me," he says. Areas needing improvement? "Late November and early April, " he laughs. "The weather can be horrible and there's limited skiing."
ONLY IN HANOVER: A favorite college memory formed just this fall when Sacerdote and his wife were standing in their kitchen. The phone rang, and it was diving coach Chris Hamilton and his wife, warning them to stay out of theiryard: An enormous moose stood in the driveway. "My family and I cowered on our front steps, watching the moose walk around. It was one of those really warm fall days, and the moose became so hot it eventually flopped down onto a shady section of our lawn. Michele made me put out a big bucket of water in case he was thirsty. Practically the whole campus came by to see it, and the police too—it was quite a scene."
OFF-CAMPUS: Married to Michele, a teacher at Lebanon College. Father to Sofia (shown above), 6, and son Sam, 14 months. As a family they enjoy boating, water skiing and swimming on Goose Pond, hiking, skiing and making maple syrup from the trees in their back yard.
