Alumnus appointed president of Dartmouth

UW–Madison alumnus James Wright has been elected the 16th president of Dartmouth College by the college’s Board of Trustees. Wright, who will take office in August, was born in Madison and received a bachelor’s degree from UW-Platteville and master’s and doctoral degrees in history from UW–Madison. He currently serves as Dartmouth’s provost.

A noted historian, and author or editor of five books, including Progressive Yankees: Republican Reformers in New Hampshire (1987), and The Politics of Populism (1974), Wright has been at Dartmouth since 1969, when he joined the faculty as an assistant professor of history. Since then, he has served in a number of teaching and administrative roles, including dean of the faculty from 1989-1997 and acting president in 1995.

“Dartmouth is an institution that has helped to shape the national landscape of higher education,” said Wright “That landscape is undergoing profound change. Because of its unique nature, combining a focus on undergraduate education with research strength and distinctive professional schools, Dartmouth is now in a position to shape that landscape again.”

Founded in 1769, Dartmouth is the ninth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and a member of the Ivy League. With a focus on undergraduate liberal arts studies complemented by 20 graduate programs in the arts and sciences and three of the oldest professional schools in the country (the Dartmouth Medical School, the Thayer School of Engineering and the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration), Dartmouth enrolls approximately 4,200 undergraduates and 1,500 graduate students.