TRUSTEES APPOINT PROVOST CAROL FOLT INTERIM PRESIDENT
Carol Folt was appointed interim president following College President Jim Yong Kim’s election to the World Bank.
By Jenny Che, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Web Update
The Board of Trustees appointed College Provost Carol Folt as Dartmouth’s interim president following the Monday selection of College President Jim Yong Kim as head of the World Bank, according to a College press release. Kim will step down on June 30 after less than three years in office, the second shortest presidential tenure in College history. Folt will begin work as interim president on July 1.
Folt, who is Dartmouth’s chief academic officer and the second highest ranking College administrator, assumed the role of provost in 2009 after three years of serving as dean of the faculty. Her appointment marks the first time a woman has held the College's top leadership position. Folt told the Board of Trustees that she will not seek the permanent presidency.
“We have an exciting year ahead of us, with much work to be done, and are fortunate that Provost Folt has agreed to serve Dartmouth as interim president,” Chairman of the Board of Trustees Stephen Mandel ’78 said in the release. “She will provide leadership to all parts of our campus and continue to lead the strategic planning process, which is a top priority for the Board. The trustees all agree that Dartmouth will thrive under Carol’s leadership through this important transitional period.”
Beginning in 2010, Folt has worked with Kim to lead the College’s strategic planning process, which is aimed at supporting faculty, strengthening the College’s curriculum and improving student education following significant budget cuts and administrative restructuring.
As interim president, she will continue to work with faculty and the Board to maintain these goals, according to the release. The Strategic Planning Steering Committee, of which Folt and Kim are co-chairs, aims to approve all final recommendations from seven strategic planning working groups by December 2012, those involved in the process previously told The Dartmouth.
Folt and Chief Financial Officer Steven Kadish led Dartmouth’s efforts to resolve the College’s $100-million budget gap under Kim’s direction, according to the release.
Folt replaced former Provost Barry Scherr, one of several high-level administrators to leave the College in 2009, including former Dean of the College Tom Crady, former Dean of Undergraduate Students Rovana Popoff and former Dean of First-Year Students Gail Zimmerman.
Folt has served as a senior administrator since 2001, when she was named dean of graduate studies. In 2004, she was appointed dean of the faculty of arts and sciences and in 2006 became dean of the faculty. She began teaching at the College in 1983.
Folt said she is “honored” to lead the College as it begins the search for a new president.
“I have had a wonderful opportunity to work closely with President Kim to build on Dartmouth’s traditional strengths and develop new initiatives during his very dynamic presidency,” she said in the release. “I look forward to working closely with all members of the Dartmouth community to maintain the vitality of our campus, strengthen existing and new initiatives and sharpen priorities.”
Folt’s appointment comes on the heels of a series of resignations of female administrators, primarily in the Office of Pluralism and Leadership. In March, Nora Yasumura resigned from her post as assistant dean and advisor to Asian and Asian-American students. Former advisor to black students Samantha Ivery, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Colleen Larimore ’85 and former Acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears all resigned last winter.
Kim applauded the Board’s appointment of Folt as interim president.
“[Folt’s] sure leadership and intimate knowledge of the College make her an outstanding choice for interim president,” Kim said. “She is committed to strengthening Dartmouth’s mission of education and research in order to prepare students — and future generations of students — for a rapidly changing world.”
Folt’s tenure as dean of the faculty received some criticism from prominent professors, who cited incompatibility with her administration as the reason for their departure. Jon Appleton, a former music professor at Dartmouth, previously told The Dartmouth that Folt was an “ineffective” administrator and that she contributed to a decline in the intellectual atmosphere at the College.
Appleton called Folt a “puppet” whose sole interest was her “career in administration.”
Biology professor Roger Sloboda, however, lauded Folt’s achievements in her six years as dean of the faculty in a previous interview with The Dartmouth.
“She was a very strong proponent of strong teaching and research, always looking out for faculty salaries and benefits,” he said. “She was a good representative of the faculty in discussion with administration. She’s not the kind of person to advertise everything she’s doing and brag about it.”
An expert on metal toxicity, Folt has explored the effects of mercury and arsenic on human health, salmon restoration and global climate change. In 2010, Folt was named to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Folt graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aquatic biology and a master’s degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received a PhD from the University of California, Davis.
Mandel also commended Kim on his appointment to the World Bank presidency in the release.
“The Trustees congratulate President Kim on the tremendous honor of being chosen as president of the World Bank, one of the most critical institutions fighting poverty in the world,” Mandel said. “We have immense respect for Jim as a leader and human being, and are proud of his contributions at Dartmouth and in the world.”
The Board of Trustees will announce the chair of the presidential search committee that will select the College’s 18th president on Thursday, according to the press release.
I am so glad that we replaced a detached, unconcerned president with someone who is in touch with the needs of the student body and is ready to take action.
Oh wait.
By ‘13 on Apr 17 | 11:08 am
A disaster for Dartmouth. The Trustees need to break with the past that had made the faculty, students and staff so discontented. Folt has played a big role in getting us into the current mess; she is not going to get us out of it.
What a sad failure of imagination on the part of our MBA board.
By Anonymous on Apr 17 | 11:12 am
Looks like I made the right decision.
By Cornell ‘16 on Apr 17 | 11:17 am
The temperature at Dartmouth just went from highh-80s to hellish.
By Concerned ‘14 on Apr 17 | 11:18 am
Not their fault, they were huffing John Replogle’s Burt’s Bees natural botanical products when they made the decision.
By Fred Lund on Apr 17 | 11:29 am
Mediocrity made flesh. Can the Board of Trustees do anything right these days? Time for all thoughtful alums to declare an embargo on contributions to the College. That is the only thing that will get the Board’s attention and the only thing they really care about anyway. Let Mr Mandel and the other members of the financial rentier class that control the Board make up the difference. They bought their way onto the Board and now that they have turned it into their plaything let them finance the College.
By anon on Apr 17 | 11:31 am
Carol Folt is definitely not the right choice, but I do understand the time constraint.
I just hope that the interim position is for less than 1 year and doesn’t lead to another Jim Wright, who I believe became the president after a couple years of interim presidency.
By D 2011 on Apr 17 | 12:01 pm
I hope the Board of Trustees employ the intellectual gift the College provided them by nominating a candidate from within the Dartmouth Alumni body this time. This way we are assured of a President whose allegiance will be to the best interests and promotion of the College and not to their own self promotion like Kim. Kim came in and did the easy work and now when the theory needs to be implemented and the hard work of working out the details begins, leaves for a position the majority of the international community consider him not capable of performing. God help the developing countries
By dartmouth ‘79 on Apr 17 | 12:20 pm
I must say, I’ve never seen a group of comments as uniformly cogent as the above. The wonderful thing about them is they are coming from undergrads, alums and some still in high school who decided not to go to Dartmouth. Unfortunately it is the money that concerns the Board more than anything, but in what way it concerns them is anyone’s guess based on what the College does with the money now. Nothing could be dumber than a Board at Dartmouth College. This must be where the phrase, “Dumb as a Board” came from.
By Bobo on Apr 17 | 12:38 pm
There is no person in Hanover more disdained by the faculty than Folt. Well maybe Kim, but Folt has been in Hanover longer, so she has had greater opportunity to show people how dishonest, shallow and unimaginative she is.
Does she have anything to her credit in terms of innovation? Anything?
By Anonymous on Apr 17 | 12:56 pm
Unimaginative. Sad.
By DartBored on Apr 17 | 1:16 pm
Dear Dartmouth Students,
If you thought Jim Kim was a horrible president. If you thought Charlotte Johnson was a terrible dean. If you thought DDS Director David Newlove was corrupt in misrepresenting DDS profits. If you thought April Thompson’s decision to unjustly close the river docks was illegal and immoral. If you thought Steve Kadish was crooked because he would not release the College budget after twice being rebuked by faculty and once by the Student Assembly. If you thought we cared little about student input and concerns before…
You ain’t seen nothing yet. Carol Folt will take everything bad and illegal about this college and multiply it by a million.
Sincerely, Dartmouth Trustees
By Trustees on Apr 17 | 1:20 pm
A worthy successor to the “galactic superstar” (me)!
You’re welcome, Darmouth Univerisity.
-Fake Jim Kim twitter.com/fakejimkim
By FakeJimKim on Apr 17 | 1:37 pm
Don’t the Trustees see that Folt has been running the place (into the ground) over the past couple of years while Kim has been job hunting. How could they pick someone like her???
There are plenty of people in Hanover who could get up to speed quickly. What a disaster for Dartmouth!!!
The Board should be fired. The Trustees are incompetent.
By OMG on Apr 17 | 1:51 pm
It has often been said that the faculty of Dartmouth College will put up with absolutely anything. Now we will see.
By Deja vu all over again on Apr 17 | 2:52 pm
O come on, there’s nothing wrong with picking Folt in a pinch. The interim president is not the place to be “imaginative.” All this does is reduce the chance that she’ll be picked as the real president in the future.
@“Trustees”: Would you tell us what is “corrupt,” “illegal” or “crooked” about Dartmouth? You must be joking if you think there’s anything wrong with someone declining to release a budget “after twice being rebuked by faculty and once by the Student Assembly.” Why not mention that he was hit with a wet noodle too?
By Anonymous on Apr 17 | 3:13 pm
I have had the pleasure of meeting Carol Folt on several occasions. She is an advocate for Dartmouth College, the students and the faculty, and will help make what could be a disruptive transition as smooth as possible. After working with the executive team to make difficult budget cuts, she has tirelessly led the strategic planning process. The Board made s good decision, one that will allow them to start the search process for the new President as soon as possible. My best wishes on her appointment.
By Merle Adelman on Apr 17 | 3:28 pm
this is great news everyone! seriously, think about it. When has Folt ever gotten anything accomplished? If you think about it, at least we don’t have to worry about her messing anything up since we know that under Carol Folt any project currently moving forward will likely halt immediately and no new projects will commence. The trustees could have accomplished the same result by appointing Jim Kim’s chair as the interim president. Maybe in an inspired move Carol will appoint a lump of coal as interim provost (wouldn’t want anyone to outshine her).
By good news everyone! on Apr 17 | 3:34 pm
The comments seem to suggest the Ms. Folt is unqualified in some undescribed manner. As a long time part of Dartmouth, I object. It is also useful to note that Ms. Folt is an INTERIM president who is not standing as a candidate.
By GL 66 on Apr 17 | 3:51 pm
Carol Folt’s biggest achievement over the past 29 years has been getting rid of Dartmouth’s superstar professors. Jon Appleton, Jim Kuypers, Mike Gazzaniga, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Julia Driver, Craig Wilder – all legends in their fields, all driven out of Dartmouth by Carol “If you don’t agree with me, you’re fired” Folt. Let’s hope that list of superstar exiles doesn’t grow under Folt. Horrible choice by the trustees.
I’m ashamed to be a Dartmouth student today.
By Who will Folt fire next? on Apr 17 | 4:19 pm