As Dartmouth begins the 2023-24 academic year, it does so with a new president: Sian Leah Beilock.
Beilock, the first woman elected president by the Board of Trustees in the institution's 254-year history, took office on June 12. She is a cognitive scientist whose research has included the study of how young people respond to stress in situations they consider high stakes, including on the athletic field and in the classroom.
In an interview published in the spring 2023 issue of 3D, Beilock discussed how her research would inform some of the priorities of her presidency. "You can't have academic excellence without a precursor of health and wellness," she said. "Which means health and wellness needs to be everywhere in the Dartmouth experience."
In an indication of the spirit of adventure she brings to the role, President Beilock, 47, spent her fourth day on the job hiking with a group of alumni to the summit of New Hampshire's rugged Mount Moosilauke, elevation 4,802 feet. The Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, which is owned by Dartmouth and operated by the Outdoor Programs Office, sits at the base of the peak, a one-hour drive from campus.
In a letter to the Dartmouth community that same week, President Beilock described engaging in hundreds of conversations with students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the months prior to her arrival on campus from Barnard College, where she served as president for six years. Those discussions, she said, had provided her with a clear picture of the qualities that make Dartmouth special, including "our size, scale, and scope."
She described Dartmouth as "an institution small enough to provide all our students with direct access to world-class faculty, staff, and resources, yet large enough to have the infrastructure and experience that mark the world's greatest universities." She also noted "a rare ethos that animates all of your work—a powerful belief that every one of you has the ability to change the world."
"I have so much more to learn, and there is no question that despite all of Dartmouth's strengths, there is a lot of work to do," she added. "Dartmouth can be an engine for hope and change—especially at a time when fear and dissension color much of our public discourse. I find tremendous opportunity in the way we join intellectual rigor with practical impact, in service to the Dartmouth community and the world."
Photo of President Beilock by Eli Burakian '00
