"My impression of Dartmouth is really of 40 years of watching Dartmouth students matriculate and graduate and go on to remarkable lives, for which we're very proud of," he said. "Those impressions, they are living, vital things."
Wright, who will be succeeded by President-elect Jim Yong Kim, said he is confident that Kim will lead the College toward further improvements.
"I wish Dr. Kim well," Wright said. "I think that he's very excited about his presidency. I know he will do a wonderful job, and I know from experience that he will enjoy the job very much."
Kim, who will take office on Wednesday, will be inaugurated in an official ceremony on Sept. 22.
In a farewell e-mail to the Dartmouth community on Monday evening, Wright outlined two "fundamental goals" in "administering Dartmouth."
"First, to provide an educational experience for each class, for each generation of Dartmouth students, that is so special, that meets their needs so fully, that they graduate from Dartmouth convinced it surely could not be improved upon and so no one better change it!" he wrote in the e-mail.
Wright wrote that his second goal was to make sure that Dartmouth remains sensitive to the changing demands of students.
"Even as [students] graduate we need to begin the work to make certain that we initiate whatever changes are required to meet the needs of the incoming class and to respond to the changing expectations of our world," Wright wrote.
Wright, who saw the latter years of his presidency marked by battles over alumni governance and disagreement over the direction of the College, told The Dartmouth on Monday that he has high hopes for the College's evolution in the coming years.
"The future of Dartmouth will build upon the past," he said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "It will also, as always, respond to what new generations of students ask of the College and what our society and our global responsibilities demand of us."
Wright, whose tenure saw advances in areas including financial aid and College infrastructure, as well as the launch of the College's capital campaign, spoke both to accomplishments and to the challenges he faced as president in his farewell e-mail.
Wright pointed specifically to efforts to shape the College's response to the global economic crisis as an obstacle, noting that he believed the College had responded well to the financial challenges posed by the downturn.
While the crisis, which led to budget cuts and layoffs at the College, will certainly affect Dartmouth's financial future, alumni and other donors remain supportive of the College, Wright said.
"I think that obviously all of higher education is still going to be facing uncertainty with the economy," he said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "But Dartmouth is in good and strong shape, and our donors continue to support us."
Wright, whose first years in office saw controversy over the College's Greek system, credited the arrival of Kappa Delta sorority and the return of Zeta Psi fraternity, both scheduled for this fall, to ongoing student interest in the College's Greek system.
"I think that the leadership of the [Greek] organizations, including the alumni leadership, have responded very well to College requests and challenges to try to address some long-standing issues," he said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "I'm pleased and proud of the work the leadership of the organizations have done."
After Wright steps down, he and his wife, Susan, plan to move from Webster Ave. to their house in nearby Sunapee, N.H. Wright will also begin work on the Dartmouth oral history project that past College presidents typically complete in an office in downtown Hanover.
Staff in the President's office have been working to make President-elect Kim's transition as smooth as possible, Wright said.
"I've encouraged everyone to work hard to make certain that Dr. Kim and his colleagues are comfortable and feel very welcome, and I know that all of my colleagues have been working to do that," he said.
