Search Begins for Inaugural Irving Institute Director

The search is underway for the founding director of the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society.

Committee co-chair Robert Hansen, the Norman W. Martin 1925 Professor of Business Administration at the Tuck School of Business, says a newly formed search committee has met and has begun working on the search. They are close to picking a search firm that will help them define the position profile and identify top candidates, he said.

“We’ll be looking for someone with strong academic credentials in the area of energy and society. We’ll be searching globally and are open to all relevant disciplines,” says Hansen. Committee co-chair Jon Kull ’88, dean of the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies and the Rodgers Professor of Chemistry, says, “The search firms we have talked with share our optimism in being able to recruit a founding director for the institute who will have exceptional academic credentials and reputation, as well as the desire and ability to build a great institute.”

The other committee members are:

• Susanne Friedberg, a professor of geography and chair of the Department of Geography
• Richard Howarth, a professor and chair of the Environmental Studies Program
• Margaret Karagas, the James W. Squires Professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Geisel School of Medicine
• Rosalie Kerr ’98, director of sustainability
• Lee Lynd, the Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering Design
• Frank Magilligan, a professor of geography and the Frank J. Reagan ’09 Chair of Policy Studies
• Erin Mansur, the Revers Professor of Business Administration and faculty director of the Revers Energy Initiative at the Tuck School of Business
• April Salas, executive director of the Revers Energy Initiative at the Tuck School of Business
• Mukul Sharma, a professor of earth sciences
• Matthew Slaughter, the Paul Danos Dean of the Tuck School of Business and the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business
• Jonathan Smolin, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures
• Roberta Stewart, a professor of classical studies
• Charles Sullivan, a professor of engineering at Thayer School of Engineering
• Dale Turner, an associate professor of government and of Native American studies
• William Wohlforth, the Daniel Webster Professor of Government

The search committee will soon invite faculty, students, and staff to meetings to discuss the search process and the vision for the institute itself. The director will report to Dartmouth’s provost and will have a board of advisers that will include scholars and practitioners from diverse areas related to energy.

“The founding director of the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society will play a key role in determining its future,” says Hansen. “It is a very attractive position for the right person, and we are already getting inquiries. We have a great committee, with broad and deep expertise and perspective, and we will work hard to find the best leader for the institute. Anybody with any thoughts or ideas on the search process should feel free to contact any of us.”