Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (/ˈdɑːrtməθ/; DART-məth) is a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Emerging into national prominence at the turn of the 20th century, Dartmouth has since been considered among the most prestigious undergraduate colleges in the United States.[9]
This article is about a university in the United States. For the college in Dartmouth, UK, see Britannia Royal Naval College. For the university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, see University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. For other uses, see Dartmouth (disambiguation).Motto
Vox clamantis in deserto (Latin – A Biblical reference to John the Baptist in the New Testament)
"A voice crying out in the wilderness"[1]
December 13, 1769[2]
$8.5 billion (2021)[3]
$1.2 billion (2022)[4]
David F. Kotz
943 (fall 2018)[1]
2,938 full time, 328 part time (fall 2018)[5]
6,746 (fall 2023)[6]
4,447 (fall 2023)[6]
2,299 (fall 2023)[6]
Remote town[7], 31,869 acres (128.97 km2) (total)
Dartmouth green and white[8]
Although originally established to educate Native Americans in Christian theology and the English way of life, the university primarily trained Congregationalist ministers during its early history before it gradually secularized. While Dartmouth is now a research university rather than simply an undergraduate college, it continues to go by "Dartmouth College" to emphasize its focus on undergraduate education.
Following a liberal arts curriculum, Dartmouth provides undergraduate instruction in 40 academic departments and interdisciplinary programs, including 60 majors in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering, and enables students to design specialized concentrations or engage in dual degree programs.[10] In addition to the undergraduate faculty of arts and sciences, Dartmouth has four professional and graduate schools: the Geisel School of Medicine, the Thayer School of Engineering, the Tuck School of Business, and the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.[11] The university also has affiliations with the Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center. Dartmouth is home to the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences, the Hood Museum of Art, the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, and the Hopkins Center for the Arts. With a student enrollment of about 6,700, Dartmouth is the smallest university in the Ivy League. Undergraduate admissions are highly selective with an acceptance rate of 5.3% for the class of 2028, including a 3.8% rate for regular decision applicants.[12]
Situated on a terrace above the Connecticut River, Dartmouth's 269-acre (109 ha) main campus is in the rural Upper Valley region of New England.[13] The university functions on a quarter system, operating year-round on four ten-week academic terms.[14] Dartmouth is known for its undergraduate focus, Greek culture, and campus traditions.[15][16] Its 34 varsity sports teams compete intercollegiately in the Ivy League conference of the NCAA Division I. The university has many prominent alumni, including 170 members of the United States Congress,[17] 24 U.S. governors, 8 U.S. Cabinet secretaries, 3 Nobel Prize laureates, 2 U.S. Supreme Court justices, and a U.S. vice president. Other notable alumni include 81 Rhodes Scholars,[18] 26 Marshall Scholarship recipients,[19] 13 Pulitzer Prize recipients, 10 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies,[20] and 51 Olympic medalists.[21]
Academic rankings
16
18
28
13
301–400
237
161
261
Overall: 6.23%
ED: 19.9%
RD: 4.6%
710–770
730–790
32–35
94.5%
98.3%
99.8%
Lord Hall, Allen House
Morton Hall, East Wheelock House
Woodward Hall, North Park House
Mid Massachusetts Hall, School House
Topliff Hall, South House
Russell Sage Hall, West House
Insignia and other representations[edit]
Motto and song[edit]
Dartmouth's motto, chosen by Eleazar Wheelock, is Vox clamantis in deserto. The Latin motto is literally translated as "The voice of one crying in the wilderness",[211][212] but is more often rendered as "A voice crying out in the wilderness".[1] The phrase appears five times in the Bible and is a reference to the college's location on what was once the frontier of European settlement.[212][213] Richard Hovey's "Men of Dartmouth" was elected as the best of Dartmouth's songs in 1896,[204] and became the school's official song in 1926.[214] The song was retitled to "Alma Mater" in the 1980s when its lyrics were changed to refer to women as well as men.[215]
Dartmouth's alumni are known for frequently donating to their alma mater.[230] Most start by giving to the Senior Class Gift. According to a 2008 article in The Wall Street Journal based on data from payscale.com, Dartmouth graduates also earn higher median salaries at least 10 years after graduation than alumni of any other American university surveyed.[231]
By 2008, Dartmouth had graduated 238 classes of students, and had over 60,000 living alumni in a variety of fields.[232] Finance, consulting, and technology have consistently been the most popular industries to enter for students.[233] Top employers of new graduates include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.
Nelson A. Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States and 49th Governor of New York, graduated cum laude from Dartmouth with a degree in economics in 1930. Over 164 Dartmouth graduates have served in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives,[234] such as Massachusetts statesman Daniel Webster.[234] Cabinet members of American presidents include Attorney General Amos T. Akerman,[235] Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich,[236] Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, and Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner. C. Everett Koop was the Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan.[237] Two Dartmouth alumni have served as justices on the Supreme Court of the United States: Salmon P. Chase and Levi Woodbury.[238][239] Eugene Norman Veasey (class of 1954) served as the Chief Justice of Delaware. The 46th Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf;[240] the 42nd Governor of Illinois, businessman Bruce Rauner;[241] and the 31st governor and current senator from North Dakota, John Hoeven (R), are also Dartmouth alumni. Ernesto de la Guardia, class of 1925, was president of the Republic of Panama.
In literature and journalism, Dartmouth has produced 13 Pulitzer Prize winners: Thomas M. Burton,[242] Richard Eberhart,[243] Dan Fagin,[244] Paul Gigot, Frank Gilroy, Jake Hooker,[245] Nigel Jaquiss,[246] Joseph Rago,[247] Martin J. Sherwin,[248] David K. Shipler,[249] David Shribman, Justin Harvey Smith and Robert Frost.[250] Frost, who received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry in his lifetime, attended but did not graduate from Dartmouth; he is, however, the only person to have received two honorary degrees from Dartmouth.[250]
Other authors and media personalities include CNN Chief White House correspondent and anchor Jake Tapper, novelist and founding editor of The Believer Heidi Julavits, "Dean of rock critics" Robert Christgau, National Book Award winners Louise Erdrich and Phil Klay, novelist/screenwriter Budd Schulberg,[251] political commentator Dinesh D'Souza,[252] radio talk show host Laura Ingraham,[253] commentator Mort Kondracke,[254] and journalist James Panero.[255] Norman Maclean, professor at the University of Chicago[256] and author of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, graduated from Dartmouth in 1924.[257] Theodor Geisel, better known as children's author Dr. Seuss, was a member of the class of 1925.[258]
In the area of religion and theology, Dartmouth alumni include priests and ministers Ebenezer Porter, Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, Caleb Sprague Henry, Arthur Whipple Jenks, Solomon Spalding, and Joseph Tracy; and rabbis Marshall Meyer, Arnold Resnicoff, and David E. Stern.[259][260][261][262][263] Hyrum Smith, brother of Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, attended the college in his teens. He was Patriarch of the LDS Church.
Dartmouth alumni in academia include Stuart Kauffman and Jeffrey Weeks, both recipients of MacArthur Fellowships (commonly called "genius grants").[264][265] Dartmouth has also graduated three Nobel Prize winners with four separate prizes: Owen Chamberlain (Physics, 1959),[266] K. Barry Sharpless (Chemistry, 2001 and 2022),[267] and George Davis Snell (Physiology or Medicine, 1980).[268] Educators include founder and first president of Bates College Oren Burbank Cheney (1839);[269] the former chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, Marye Anne Fox (PhD. in Chemistry, 1974);[270] founding president of Vassar College Milo Parker Jewett;[271] founder and first president of Kenyon College Philander Chase;[272] first professor of Wabash College Caleb Mills;[273] president of Union College Charles Augustus Aiken.[274][275] Nine of Dartmouth's 17 presidents were alumni of the college.[276]
Dartmouth alumni serving as CEOs or company presidents and executives include Charles Alfred Pillsbury, founder of the Pillsbury Company and patriarch of the Pillsbury family, Sandy Alderson (San Diego Padres),[277] John Donahoe (Nike, Inc.), Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (IBM),[278] Charles E. Haldeman (Putnam Investments),[279] Donald J. Hall Sr. (Hallmark Cards),[280] Douglas Hodge (CEO of PIMCO accused of fraud),[281] Jeffrey R. Immelt (General Electric),[282] Gail Koziara Boudreaux (United Health Care),[283] Grant Tinker (NBC),[284] Greg Maffei (Liberty Media), and Brian Goldner (Hasbro).[285]
In film, entertainment, and television, Dartmouth is represented by David Benioff, co-creator, showrunner, and writer of Game of Thrones; Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal;[286] Budd Schulberg, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of On the Waterfront; Michael Phillips, who won the Academy Award for Best Picture as co-producer of The Sting; Rachel Dratch, a former cast member of Saturday Night Live;[287] Chris Meledandri, executive producer of Ice Age, Horton Hears a Who!, and Despicable Me;[287] writer and director duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller; and the title character of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Fred Rogers.[288] Other notable film and television figures include Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break),[289] Emmy Award winner Michael Moriarty,[287] Andrew Shue of Melrose Place,[290] Aisha Tyler of Friends and 24, ESPN and Tennis Channel broadcaster Brett Haber,[287] Connie Britton of Spin City and Friday Night Lights, Mindy Kaling of The Office and The Mindy Project,[287] David Harbour of Stranger Things, and Michelle Khare of HBO Max's Karma.
A number of Dartmouth alumni have found success in professional sports. In baseball, Dartmouth alumni include All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner and manager Brad Ausmus,[291] All-Star reliever Mike Remlinger,[292] and pitcher Kyle Hendricks. Professional football players include Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler,[293] linebacker Reggie Williams,[294][295] three-time Pro Bowler Nick Lowery,[296] quarterback Jeff Kemp,[297] and Tennessee Titans tight end Casey Cramer, and Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Matt Burke.[298] Dartmouth has also produced a number of Olympic competitors. Adam Nelson won the silver medal in the shot put in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics to go along with his gold medal in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki.[299] Kristin King and Sarah Parsons were members of the United States' 2006 bronze medal-winning ice hockey team.[300][301] Cherie Piper, Gillian Apps, and Katie Weatherston were among Canada's ice hockey gold medalists in 2006.[302][303][304] Lawrence Whitney won bronze at the 1912 Summer Olympics in men's shot put.
Dick Durrance and Tim Caldwell competed for the United States in skiing in the 1936 and 1976 Winter Olympics, respectively.[305][306] Arthur Shaw,[307] Earl Thomson,[308] Edwin Myers,[307] Marc Wright,[307] Adam Nelson,[299] Gerry Ashworth,[307] and Vilhjálmur Einarsson[307] have all won medals in track and field events. Former heavyweight rower Dominic Seiterle is a member of the Canadian national rowing team and won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the men's 8+ event.[309]
Dartmouth College has appeared in or been referenced by a number of popular media. Some of the most prominent include:
