Dean of the Frank J. Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies

Dartmouth seeks an accomplished academic leader to serve as Dean of the Frank J. Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies - Dartmouth's central home for graduate education, doctoral programs, research training, and postdoctoral affairs. Reporting to the Provost, the Dean of Graduate and Advanced Studies will lead the strategic, academic, and administrative direction of graduate and advanced studies across Dartmouth's schools and divisions, serving a community of more than 2,000 graduate students and a growing postdoctoral and postbaccalaureate population. This appointment is contingent on the successful candidate's appointment or tenure as a full professor at Dartmouth.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Dartmouth invites applications for the position of Dean of the Frank J. Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies (the Guarini School). The Dean will provide strategic, collaborative, and inclusive leadership for Dartmouth's graduate and advanced studies enterprise, strengthening doctoral programs, graduate education, research training, and postdoctoral affairs across the institution. Dartmouth seeks to enhance the quality, breadth, and international reputation of its graduate, postdoctoral, and postbaccalaureate programs. The next Dean will lead this initiative.

As Dartmouth's academic home for nearly all PhD, MS, MA, and MFA programs, as well as postdoctoral scholars and other advanced scholarly training, the Guarini School plays a central role in advancing the University's research mission and educating future scholars, professionals, and leaders. Through centralized oversight and close partnership with Dartmouth's schools, departments, and institutes, the Guarini School promotes academic excellence, innovation, access, and student success. Dartmouth's doctoral programs are concentrated primarily in STEM fields, with master's programs spanning the arts, sciences, engineering, and professional schools.

Reporting to the Provost, the Dean serves as the chief academic and administrative officer of the Guarini School and plays a key institutional role in shaping priorities related to graduate education and research training.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a visionary, decisive, and collaborative academic leader to serve as Dartmouth's principal advocate for graduate and advanced studies - articulating the essential contributions of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to the University's research distinction, faculty excellence, undergraduate teaching, and broader intellectual community, and translating that advocacy into sustained investment, philanthropic support, and institutional standing. Dartmouth seeks an intellectual leader for graduate education: someone who will set bold priorities, make strategic tradeoffs, and shape the academic direction of the Guarini School with the scholarly authority and institutional stature to stand up for graduate programs at the senior leadership level.

THE GUARINI SCHOOL OF GRADUATE AND ADVANCED STUDIES

The Guarini School provides institution-wide leadership and coordination for graduate and advanced studies at Dartmouth. As Dartmouth's academic hub for graduate education, research training, and postdoctoral and postbaccalaureate affairs, the School oversees nearly all graduate programs across the arts, sciences, engineering, and professional schools, serving a community of more than 2,000 graduate students and acting as the central administrative home for postdoctoral scholars and a growing population of postbaccalaureate and predoctoral fellows.

Supported by a central staff of approximately 14 professionals, the Guarini School works in close partnership with Dartmouth's schools, academic departments, centers, and institutes - including through Dartmouth's centers and institutes, which represent a significant connective resource for interdisciplinary graduate education. The Dean chairs the Council on Graduate Studies - the primary faculty body for graduate academic policy and program approval - and coordinates institution-wide admissions strategy in collaboration with academic units.

The School stewards institutional fellowships, scholarships, and stipend support across programs. It also collaborates with campus partners to advance career and professional development initiatives - including through the GuariniGRAD initiative - that prepare graduate students and postdoctoral scholars for leadership in academia, industry, government, and the nonprofit sector.

PRIORITIES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES

The next Dean will lead the Guarini School at a pivotal moment for graduate and advanced education nationally and at Dartmouth - a moment in which the value of graduate education requires active, visible, and compelling advocacy, and in which the structures, identity, and ambitions of the Guarini School must be clarified and elevated. Key priorities include:

Advocacy, Narrative, and Institutional Standing: Serve as Dartmouth's leading internal and external advocate for graduate and advanced studies, reframing the institutional narrative around graduate education for trustees, alumni, faculty, and the public. Graduate students and postdoctoral and postbaccalaureate fellows are integral to Dartmouth's research productivity, R1 standing, faculty recruitment and retention, and undergraduate teaching and mentoring. The next Dean will play a pivotal role in elevating the visibility, coherence, and impact of graduate education at an institution with a strong undergraduate identity and growing research ambitions. Strengthening the positioning of the Guarini School as a formative force in the academic enterprise - and translating that vision into sustained philanthropic investment, board-level engagement, and institutional priority - will be among the most consequential dimensions of this role. This includes modernizing the School's web presence and digital communications, improving the accessibility and discoverability of graduate policies and student resources, and ensuring consistent, clear communication with all stakeholders.

Institutional Leadership in Graduate Education: Articulate and advance a cohesive, forward-looking vision for graduate and advanced studies that aligns with Dartmouth's research ambitions and academic mission. The next Dean will have the opportunity to serve as a true intellectual engine for graduate education at Dartmouth - setting bold priorities, making strategic tradeoffs, and positioning the Guarini School as a decisive institutional voice with the stature to stand up for graduate programs at the senior leadership level.

Program Portfolio Strategy, Quality, and Selective Growth: Lead a proactive, evidence-based approach to Dartmouth's advanced training portfolio - assessing program quality, competitive positioning, and critical mass with discipline-specific realism, identifying opportunities to grow applied, tuition-supported master's programs that extend Dartmouth's reach and financial sustainability, and ensuring that investment in new programs is matched by operational and administrative infrastructure. This includes thoughtful stewardship of the full portfolio through periodic evidence-based review, with an eye toward sustaining programs of enduring quality and value across disciplines.

Excellence, Disciplinary Breadth, and Differentiated Support: Strengthen pathways to graduate education and promote academic excellence across programs, ensuring that graduate and postdoctoral education is accessible, supportive, and rigorous. Dartmouth's graduate enterprise encompasses a rich range of disciplines and training models - with doctoral programs concentrated largely in laboratory-based and grant-funded STEM fields, alongside master's programs and smaller graduate offerings in the humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary fields, including Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and Comparative Literature. The next Dean will champion the full breadth of that portfolio, recognizing that these different models require differentiated strategies rather than uniform solutions, and that protecting disciplinary depth is a prerequisite for interdisciplinary vitality.

Graduate Student, Postdoctoral, and Postbaccalaureate Experience: Champion student well-being, community, and success across all career stages and program types, and strengthen partnerships with campus units that support career preparation and professional growth. The next Dean will also have the opportunity to bring greater consistency and clarity to postdoctoral employment structures at Dartmouth - standardizing definitions, aligning HR practices, and ensuring that postdoctoral growth is strategic and well-supported - and to assess the alignment, visibility, and developmental value of predoctoral and postbaccalaureate programs within Dartmouth's graduate and advanced studies ecosystem. The Dean will work constructively with the Graduate Organized Laborers of Dartmouth (GOLD) in support of graduate student employee well-being, participating in collective bargaining processes in partnership with senior leadership, Human Resources, and the Office of General Counsel.

Data-Driven Decision Making and Outcomes Assessment: Build and leverage a robust infrastructure for tracking graduate and postdoctoral outcomes - including career placement, time-to-degree, completion rates, funding adequacy, and postdoctoral transitions - using evidence to guide investment, evaluate program performance, and demonstrate the value of a Dartmouth graduate education. The next Dean will have the opportunity to establish a culture of metrics-informed stewardship that strengthens accountability and transparency across the graduate enterprise.

Research Training, Interdisciplinarity, and Emerging Technologies: Enhance interdisciplinary research training and professional development, particularly across Dartmouth's laboratory-based and computational research fields, preparing graduate students and postdoctoral scholars for diverse careers. This includes engaging proactively with the rapidly evolving impact of artificial intelligence on research, scholarship, thesis culture, and academic integrity - leading institutional norm-setting and shaping shared expectations as these technologies transform the nature of advanced study. Dartmouth's centers and institutes represent a significant connective resource for this interdisciplinary mission.

International Recruitment and a Changing Policy Environment: Strengthen Dartmouth's ability to recruit and support outstanding graduate students from around the world, building a proactive institutional strategy that anticipates and responds to the current federal policy environment governing visas, international scholars, and student eligibility, as well as evolving geopolitical conditions and the competitive international recruitment landscape. This is a first-order challenge for the field and for Dartmouth in this moment.

Governance, Policy Stewardship, and Cross-School Alignment: Ensure graduate academic policies are clear, current, accessible, and aligned with institutional priorities and peer best practices. A key opportunity for the next Dean will be to address structural tensions - including ambiguity around degree ownership and institutional affiliation across schools, faculty teaching credit incentives, and resource allocation - that, if resolved, would strengthen collaboration and expand the academic resources available to Guarini students.

Financial and Operational Stewardship: Provide transparent and sustainable leadership of a complex budget and resource environment supporting graduate education and research. The next Dean will also have the opportunity to deepen philanthropic engagement, build a more robust graduate and postdoctoral alumni identity, and develop the infrastructure, programming, and community that connect Guarini alumni to Dartmouth throughout their careers - unlocking a largely untapped source of philanthropic and network support for graduate education.

Staff Culture, Continuity, and Internal Leadership: Strengthen and sustain a cohesive, high-functioning staff team that is widely valued for its responsiveness, trust, and accessibility. The Guarini School's staff represent deep institutional knowledge and genuine commitment to graduate student success; the next Dean will prioritize continuity, transparent communication, and the well-being of the internal team as the School enters its next chapter.

THE CANDIDATE

Key Responsibilities

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  Serve as Dartmouth's principal advocate for graduate and advanced studies - making the case compellingly to trustees, alumni, faculty, and the public for the essential contributions of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to research excellence, faculty recruitment, undergraduate education, and the institution's intellectual community.

  
  
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  Provide strategic, academic, and administrative leadership for the Guarini School, shaping the direction of graduate and advanced studies across Dartmouth.

  
  
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  Serve as Dartmouth's senior steward of graduate education, overseeing academic policy, program quality, and governance through leadership of the Council on Graduate Studies.

  
  
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  Lead financial and operational oversight of a complex portfolio, including a $76M budget, graduate financial aid, admissions strategy, and resource planning in partnership with senior leadership.

  
  
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  Represent graduate education in institutional governance, working closely with school deans, faculty leaders, campus partners, the Board of Trustees, and external stakeholders, in collaboration with Alumni Relations and Development, and with oversight from graduate student labor relations, including with the Graduate Organized Laborers of Dartmouth (GOLD).

  
  
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  Lead and sustain the Guarini School's professional staff, ensuring a culture of transparency, accessibility, consistent communication, and team cohesion.

  
  

ABOUT DARTMOUTH

Founded in 1769, Dartmouth is a member of the Ivy League and the Association of American Universities (AAU). Located in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth combines a distinguished liberal arts tradition with world-class research and professional education. The University is deeply committed to excellence in teaching and scholarship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the preparation of leaders to address the world's most pressing challenges.

Dartmouth enrolls approximately 6,700 students across undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs and is supported by a robust research enterprise, extensive interdisciplinary centers and institutes, and a strong culture of mentorship and community.

The Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies is Dartmouth's central home for graduate education and research training - encompassing doctoral programs, professional and applied master's programs, postdoctoral affairs, and advanced studies across the arts, sciences, engineering, and professional schools.

The successful candidate will bring:

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  An earned doctorate or terminal degree and a record of distinguished academic or professional accomplishment appropriate for appointment as a tenured full professor at Dartmouth.

  
  
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  Substantial leadership experience in graduate education, research training, or academic administration, with the ability to set direction, make difficult tradeoffs, and lead through complexity and change.

  
  
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  Demonstrated capacity to serve as a compelling institutional communicator and advocate - with the presence, credibility, and diplomatic skill to represent graduate education effectively at the highest levels of institutional governance, and to articulate its value to trustees, alumni, philanthropic partners, and the public.

  
  
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  A demonstrated commitment to academic excellence, access, and graduate student success - across the full range of disciplines, training models, and career pathways that Dartmouth supports - reflected in both values and practice.

  
  
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  Proven experience overseeing complex organizations and budgets, with sound judgment, a data-informed approach to decision-making, and a track record of effective resource stewardship.

  
  
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  Experience working constructively in a unionized environment, including the capacity to support collective bargaining processes with judgment, steadiness, and respect for institutional and fiscal realities, in partnership with Human Resources and the Office of General Counsel.

  
  
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  A collaborative, transparent, and consultative leadership style, coupled with high emotional intelligence, genuine compassion, active listening, and the decisiveness to set priorities and act on them - with the ability to be accessible and responsive to students, staff, and faculty alike.

  
  
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  Familiarity with the evolving landscape of graduate education, including doctoral funding models, applied and professional master's programs, postdoctoral affairs, predoctoral and postbaccalaureate programs, international recruitment, and the impact of emerging technologies - including artificial intelligence -on research training.

  
  
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  Experience navigating cultural and structural tensions in decentralized academic institutions, including the ability to build consensus around difficult questions of program authority, degree ownership, incentive alignment, and resource allocation.

  
  
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  The ability to work effectively across disciplines, schools, and administrative units within a decentralized academic environment, building trust and alignment among diverse stakeholders - with an appreciation for the heterogeneity of graduate training models and the need for differentiated rather than uniform solutions.

  
  

PROCEDURE FOR CANDIDACY

Application materials should include a letter of interest addressing the candidate's vision and qualifications for the role and a curriculum vitae.