Over a catered meal in the Top of the Hop, Tuck Business School Dean Paul Danos received the chamber achievement award from the Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce Thursday night. At the annual leadership award ceremony, Danos was recognized for his commitment to Dartmouth, his family and the Hanover community. Attendees dressed formally at the event’s reception, which was followed by a dinner in Alumni Hall.
“Everyone in the Upper Valley is fortunate to have benefitted from the wisdom and foresight of this modest but remarkable man,” Karen Colberg, vice president and general manager of King Arthur Flour, said in the Chamber’s congratulatory speech.
As Tuck’s longest-serving dean, Danos has cultivated local entrepreneurial ventures that have added significant value to the business community, Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Janet Rebman said. Danos has brought in numerous creative students, whose participation and contributions to Hanover’s business have positively affected the area, she said.
Tuck students, faculty and alumni frequently work with local businesses and nonprofits, Colberg said in her speech.
The award winners are recognized for acting in alignment with the Chamber’s mission, which is “to invigorate the economic health of the area we serve, while contributing to the well-being of the Upper Valley.”
Danos moved to Hanover about 20 years ago when he became Tuck’s dean, starting what would be the first of his five four-year terms. Although Danos will step down from his position on June 30, he will remain on Tuck’s faculty and will teach.
Forty percent of Tuck alumni have graduated during his tenure as dean, Danos said. Under his direction, Tuck introduced research-to-practice seminars, which allow students to collaborate on faculty projects, spearheaded a revised curriculum and increased its full-time faculty from 36 to 51.
A search committee, chaired by Tuck senior associate dean Robert Hansen, was established this summer to search for the new Dean. The committee is comprised of professors, deans, Tuck alumni and a current student.
Hansen said that many people have been interested in the job.
“We had a pool of candidates that we were really impressed with right from the start,” Hansen said.
The committee is looking for someone who both understands the history and tradition of Tuck while being able to meet the challenges of the future, Hansen said. He added that members are looking for an individual who will continue the “culture of change” that Danos developed to move the school forward.
The committee aims to give a “handful” of names to the College President Phil Hanlon and Provost Carolyn Dever by the end of the year, Hansen said, with the goal of naming a new dean in early 2015.
The search committee is using Spencer Stuart, an executive search and recruitment consulting firm, to assist in the search.
Representatives from the firm could not be reached for comment by press time.
The Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce also awarded hotel development and investment firm Norwich Partners the business leadership award and Salt Hill Pub the business innovator award.
WNBA president Laurel Richie ’81 was this year’s keynote speaker.
The leadership awards began in 2007 in order to recognize the “extraordinary” leaders of the Upper Valley, Rebman said. This year, each eight-person table cost $1,250, while individuals could pay $95 for a seat.
