Dartmouth College is a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, a Yale graduate and Congregational minister, through a royal charter issued by John Wentworth in the name of King George III. The charter created a college for the education of Native Americans and others in the "liberal arts and sciences", connecting it to Wheelock's earlier Charity School. Named for William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, the institution is the ninth oldest college in the United States and the last founded under colonial rule.

The president of Dartmouth College is the institution's chief executive officer and chief adviser to the Board of Trustees. Under the Board's bylaws, the president has "general charge and control of the College and its affairs," including the organization of the faculties; responsibility for the conduct of educational and administrative operations and internal discipline; authority to execute instruments on the college's behalf; and the power to appoint and remove officers and administrators consistent with Board policies. The president serves as a trustee ex officio and is a voting member of the Board's executive committee, and an ex officio non-voting member of its other standing committees, with recusals required when the Board considers presidential compensation or performance. In the event of the president's death, absence, or disability, the Board may designate an interim president and define the scope of interim authority.

The college's 1769 charter vests governance in the "Trustees of Dartmouth College", authorizing them to elect officers, grant degrees, and "displace and remove" officers as necessary; in modern practice, degrees approved by the Trustees are conferred by the president at commencement. Dartmouth's status as a private corporation governed by its Board, and the inviolability of its charter, were affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819).

Since 1769, nineteen individuals have held the office, a line known as the "Wheelock Succession". The current president, Sian Beilock, was elected by the Board on July 21, 2022, took office on June 12, and was inaugurated on September 22, 2023, becoming the first woman to lead Dartmouth.

Presidents The following persons have served as president of Dartmouth College:

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Image Name

Term start Term end

1

1769 1779

2

1771 1779 1815

3

1805 1815 1820

4

1788 1820 1821

5

1822 1828

6

1828 1863

7

1830 1863 1877

8

1836 1877 1892

9

1861 1893 1909

10

1909 1916

11

1901 1916 1945

12

1929 1945 1970

13

1970 1981

14

1954 1981 1987

15

1987 1998

16

1998 June 30, 2009

17

July 1, 2009 June 30, 2012

acting

July 1, 2012 June 30, 2013

18

1977 July 1, 2013 June 11, 2023

19

June 12, 2023 present

Notes

References