How Council Committees Work
Much of the Alumni Council’s work is accomplished through committees. Sometimes the work of a committee may include one or more non-members of the council from either the alumni body or some other source. For example, appropriate staff officers at Dartmouth can serve as committee liaisons to coordinate the work of groups and provide accurate information to committee members.
Committee meetings are held between sessions of the council as may be required.
Special Committee Studies
When necessary or upon request, Alumni Council committees conduct ad hoc studies, often resulting in a report or other recommendations specific to the request.
Recent studies include:
- A 2020 recommendation to make amendments to the Alumni Council constitution related to makeup and committee structure
- A 2013 report examining Dartmouth’s opportunity to expand its existing efforts for diversity hiring and retention
Recent Committee Reports
The Alumni Liaison Committee publishes an annual report as well as biannual “pulse checks.” Dedicated to collecting and synthesizing the sentiment of Dartmouth alumni, the ALC also publishes snapshot reports to summarize findings related to dedicated ad hoc studies.
Committees and Members
Alumni Awards
The Alumni Awards Committee consists of seven former recipients of the Dartmouth Alumni Award and a staff member from the Alumni Relations Office serving as ex officio. This committee seeks strong alumni candidates who meet the eligibility criteria for the Dartmouth Alumni Award and selects three to four alumni recipients each year to be honored for a combination of accomplishments in Dartmouth volunteerism, career achievements, and civic involvement.
The Alumni Awards Committee is always seeking new nominations for the Alumni Award. Please send the name, class year, and a brief description of the nominee's accomplishments to Martha Beattie, Chair of the Awards Committee or Carolyn Gray Kimberlin, Interim Vice President of Alumni Relations.
Todd Cranford ’85
Kelley Fead ’78
Lynne Hamel Gaudet ’81 P’10 P’12 P’17
Carolyn Gray Kimberlin ’75a
Elizabeth Mahoney Loughlin ’89
Richard Routhier ’73 TU’76 P’07 P’10 P’12
Meg Sommerfeld ’90
Alumni Liaison
The Alumni Liaison Committee supports and advances the Alumni Council’s mission to sustain a fully informed, representative, and engaged exchange of information and sentiment between alumni and their College. The committee collects and synthesizes alumni sentiment and communications to share with multiple audiences and alumni.
Keith Boykin ’87
Amanda Brown Lierman ’07
Morgan F. Flatley ’96
Yaritza A. Gonzalez ’15
Mike Hjerpe ’83 TU’89
Gina Lam ’92
Enrollment and Admissions
The Committee on Enrollment and Admissions serves as a sounding board for the admissions and financial aid offices on issues such as general admissions, accepted student yield, financial aid practices, and nationwide and international trends. The committee also supports the Office of Admissions in coordinating and assessing the alumni interviewing process throughout the United States and the world.
Munir Haddad ’93
Sparking joy in life is Munir Haddad’s mission. An unapologetic optimist with a healthy regard of quit along with his natural grit, Munir loves building things and solving problems. It likely started innocently with a three-piece wooden puzzle that his mom gave him as a baby. That grew into an unhealthy obsession with games until his work at Leo Burnett on the Nintendo advertising account took him to work at Psygnosis, a division of PlayStation, and then Electronic Arts to work on EA Sports’ NCAA and Madden franchises.
Munir co-founded Kiosk, an international advertising agency, with a colleague from Psygnosis. Kiosk has been honored as the best Advertising Agency in Marin, Novato’s Large Business of the Year, acknowledged as a Spirit of Marin Honoree, and nominated for several Heart of Marin awards. Kiosk employees have made it a North Bay Business Journal Best Place to Work for over 10 years running.
Munir is drawn to clients who empower others, including partnering with UCSF Health to reach patients in need of their life-saving care, providing new skills for a changing world with Stanford Graduate School of Business, helping RBC build lasting relationships, making retirement fulfilling with Watermark Retirement Communities, and expanding the reach of education for SMU Cox School of Business and UVA Darden School of Business.
Munir was born in London and grew up in New York. He is a very active Dartmouth volunteer. His wife, Laura Holmes-Haddad is an author, speaker, and Stage IV cancer survivor.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee consists of the president, the president-elect, and the chairs of the other standing committees of the council. Chaired by the president, this committee sets the agenda for the council and plans and designs council meetings in consultation with the Dartmouth Alumni Relations Office. It is also empowered to act on council business between meetings, and is the final authority on strategic matters.
Taja-Nia Henderson ’97
Mike Hjerpe ’83 TU’89
Joshua Schoenbart ’16
Honorary Degrees
The College’s Committee on Honorary Degrees seeks strong alumni candidates for the award by canvassing the alumni body. The ACHDC supports this work by researching and vetting three to five nominees from the upcoming 50th reunion class to submit to the College Committee on Honorary Degrees. The College Committee makes the final decision regarding recipients.
Lifelong Learning
The Committee on Lifelong Learning serves as a platform to facilitate the intersection of academic life at Dartmouth with programs and strategies that provide for alumni engagement. Lifelong Learning also reviews and selects the annual faculty member recipient of the John Rassias Award. Learn more about alumni awards.
JJ Dega ’26
Elliott Ecklund ’26
Taja-Nia Henderson ’97
New Alumni Engagement
The New Alumni Engagement Committee focuses on opportunities for strategic engagement of new alumni as they enter alumni-hood. Through the work of the councilors, the committee identifies key working areas and deliverables each year and develops plans in partnership with Alumni Relations for supporting and connecting recent grads as they enter the alumni community.
Mike Hjerpe ’83 TU’89
Nominating and Alumni Trustee
The Nominating Committee makes two nominations for the president-elect, each vacancy for at-large representatives, and other positions specified in the Alumni Council constitution. Importantly, it also makes nominations for alumni trustee as provided in the constitution.
Dick Glovsky ’69
Nahoko Kawakyu-O’Connor ’99
Carolyn Gray Kimberlin ’75a
Sarah Sliva ’03
Orientation
The Orientation Committee plans and oversees the orientation of first-year alumni councilors. Responsibilities include establishing direct mentor roles for new councilors, updating orientation materials and methods, and monitoring the effectiveness of current orientation programs. The committee is chaired by the Alumni Council president-elect.
Munir Haddad ’93
Sparking joy in life is Munir Haddad’s mission. An unapologetic optimist with a healthy regard of quit along with his natural grit, Munir loves building things and solving problems. It likely started innocently with a three-piece wooden puzzle that his mom gave him as a baby. That grew into an unhealthy obsession with games until his work at Leo Burnett on the Nintendo advertising account took him to work at Psygnosis, a division of PlayStation, and then Electronic Arts to work on EA Sports’ NCAA and Madden franchises.
Munir co-founded Kiosk, an international advertising agency, with a colleague from Psygnosis. Kiosk has been honored as the best Advertising Agency in Marin, Novato’s Large Business of the Year, acknowledged as a Spirit of Marin Honoree, and nominated for several Heart of Marin awards. Kiosk employees have made it a North Bay Business Journal Best Place to Work for over 10 years running.
Munir is drawn to clients who empower others, including partnering with UCSF Health to reach patients in need of their life-saving care, providing new skills for a changing world with Stanford Graduate School of Business, helping RBC build lasting relationships, making retirement fulfilling with Watermark Retirement Communities, and expanding the reach of education for SMU Cox School of Business and UVA Darden School of Business.
Munir was born in London and grew up in New York. He is a very active Dartmouth volunteer. His wife, Laura Holmes-Haddad is an author, speaker, and Stage IV cancer survivor.
Mike Hjerpe ’83 TU’89
Professional Development
In partnership with Alumni Relations' Dartmouth for Life team, the Professional Development Committee (PDC) helps to craft and promote compelling career related activities for alumni. The PDC’s overall goal is to strengthen the lifelong engagement of alumni with each other and Dartmouth through providing support at every stage of the career journey.
Members of the PDC serve as a voice of the alumni community and are actively engaged in program and content development as well as in providing feedback and participating in related initiatives.
Joshua Schoenbart ’16
Young Alumni Awards
The Young Alumni Awards Committee consists of former recipients of the Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award and a staff member of the Alumni Relations Office (committee liaison). This committee seeks alumni candidates who meet the eligibility criteria for the Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award, placing strong emphasis on Dartmouth volunteerism when selecting two to three recipients each year. The committee is always seeking new nominations for the award. Please send the name, class year, and a brief description of the nominee's accomplishments to committee chair Kevin Hudak ’07.
Nathan Bruschi ’10
