Unnecessary treatment and "misaligned" financial incentives are largely responsible for the poor state of the American health care system, according to former Dartmouth Medical School Dean John Baldwin, who recently stepped down as the president of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
In their last year at Dartmouth, members of the Class of 2009 saw the College take on issues ranging from budget cuts and the economic downturn, to alumni governance and Greek expansion, to presidential elections both at the College level and on the national scale. Following President James Wright's February 2008 announcement that he would step down from the position of president in June 2009, a search committee chaired by Trustee Al Mulley '70 was formed that consisted of alumni, faculty, trustees and then-Student Body President Molly Bode '09. In July 2008, the presidential search committee began holding forums on campus and in cities across the country to solicit input from the Dartmouth community.