Dean of the Tuck School of Business Paul Danos was reappointed to serve a fifth four-year term on Wednesday, according to an email from Provost Carol Folt sent to the Tuck community on May 11 and obtained by The Dartmouth. Danos' innovative vision, combined with his tireless efforts to improve the standing of Tuck and to recruit prominent faculty members, led to his reappointment, according to several of Danos' colleagues interviewed by The Dartmouth.
Danos, who has served at Tuck's dean since his appointment in 1995, said he is very eager to pursue his fourth term.
"I've been dean now for 16 years and the prospect of four more years is very exciting for me," Danos said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "I've loved this academic environment and Dartmouth is one of the best examples of great education." Danos' leadership has both enhanced Tuck's reputation and helped the school improving research without compromising teaching, according to several Tuck professors.
Danos' three most important accomplishments have been the acquisition of prominent faculty members, the improvement of Tuck facilities and establishing a "brand name" for Tuck, according to Tuck professor Vijay Govindarajan, the founding director of Tuck's Center for Global Leadership.
Govindarajan, who served on the search committee that initially hired Danos in 1995, said that when asked by the search committee what his agenda would be for Tuck, Danos expressed a commitment to one agenda that corresponded with Dartmouth's overall mission balancing research with teaching.
"[Danos] focused on how to improve Tuck's standing on academic research without diluting our teaching," Govindarajan said. "Our teaching was outstanding but our academic research was a step down."
Danos has maintained his commitment to leveling the two fields, Govindarajan, who has worked for Tuck for 27 years, said.
"In every ranking since then, Tuck's done exceptionally well," he said.
In 1995, Tuck had slipped to number 13 in national rankings, causing "discomfort" among faculty, Govindarajan said. Tuck placed seventh out of 142 surveyed business schools in U.S. News and World Report's annual rankings of graduate schools released March 15 an increase from its eighth place finish last year, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"There was a central feeling that we were slipping," he said. "We needed someone who would not only settle the ship but push the school forward, and Danos has done just that."
During his tenure as dean, Tuck's student body has increased considerably.
While only 435 students were enrolled in Tuck in Fall 2001, 561 students enrolled at Tuck in Fall 2010, according to the Dartmouth College Fact Book. 2001 is the earliest year for which the Fact Book provides statistics.
"We've increased Tuck's size in terms of faculty," Danos said. "We've increased the student body, but we're the smallest of the top business schools because we want to be small-scale and we want everyone to get personal attention."
Despite Tuck's growth in overall size, class sizes have gotten smaller, Danos said. Tuck also has a high percentage of faculty-taught classes, and such personal connections contribute to the overall quality of education, he said.
"Last year, Tuck had the best placement [for its graduates] of any MBA program," Danos said. "They are great leaders and know how to work in teams they get all the technical education that is required and that's a great combination for a business leader."
Sydney Finkelstein, a management professor at Tuck, praised Danos for the way he has "transformed" Tuck in terms of prestige and research quality.
"He's very well-respected by faculty and students," Finkelstein said. "Alumni love this guy. He's exactly the person we need for another term."
Under Danos' tenure this past year, Tuck developed the nation's first masters degree program in health care delivery science in collaboration with Dartmouth Medical School and the Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science.
"[The degree] aims directly at one of the areas that [College President Jim Yong Kim] is most concerned with the efficiency and development of health care," Danos said.
This latest initiative marks a shift in focus between the administrations of former College President James Wright and Kim, Danos said. Kim is a "huge supporter" of the new degree program, and the development of such a program in the first two years of Kim's tenure "is quite an accomplishment," Danos said.
Danos also helped facilitate the introduction of research-to-practice seminars, according to Finkelstein. In each seminar, a faculty member is assigned to 12 students and they work together on a single "real-world issue" that is relevant to the faculty member's passions and expertise, Finkelstein said.
During his fifth term as dean, Danos plans to use technology to continue the education of alumni and other professionals, he said.
"Technology will play a major part in the future of education," Danos said. "We're going to have many opportunities to deliver education to people wherever they are and this will contribute to lifelong learning."
Danos' sense of strategic direction makes him an effective dean, business administration professor Robert Shumsky said.
"He has a very good intuition about what will work at Dartmouth and what won't," Shumsky said.
Danos said his excitement toward his work has not decreased over his 16-year tenure at Tuck because it is such a "great" school.
Danos' commitment to improving Tuck stems from his love for the school, Tuck Senior Associate Dean Robert Hansen said.
"[Danos] loves the Tuck school and he works tirelessly to improve it," Hansen said. "From the staff, to the faculty, to the placement of students across the board he pays attention to all of the aspects of the school."
Danos' reappointment came after Kim requested a complete review of Danos' tenure as dean, according to the email.
