2027 Alumni Trustee Vacancies
One alumni trustee will complete their term in 2027. The Alumni Council's Nominating and Alumni Trustee Search Committee (NomCom) and Alumni Council will seek to fill this position this year.
Nominating alumni trustees for 2027
All alumni are encouraged to submit recommendations at any time by completing the Alumni Trustee Candidate Recommendation Form. Self-nominations are welcome and permitted.
- Every name submitted through the recommendation form is considered and reviewed by the NomCom.
- It doesn’t matter how many nominations a candidate receives. All candidates nominated (whether once or 1,000 times) get equal review and weighting.
- If someone was nominated last year it is okay to nominate them again this year.
Over the summer and fall, the NomCom will vet all nominations, identify and interview finalists, and recommend candidate(s) to the Council. The Council will meet and vote to approve the nominees at the 233rd Alumni Council meeting in November 2026.
What is the NomCom?
The NomCom, short for the Nominating and Alumni Trustee Search Committee, is an Alumni Council committee responsible for identifying and recruiting alumni for leadership roles, including alumni-nominated seats on the Dartmouth Board of Trustees. The committee comprises the Alumni Council president, the Alumni Council president-elect, the current and past Nominating Committee chairs, one appointed member from the Alumni Council, and five elected members from the Alumni Council.
The committee works year-round to research and maintain a pool of possible candidates. Historically, an average of 250–300 candidates are considered for each vacancy on the board.
How many candidates does the NomCom put forth per vacant alumni trustee seat?
The NomCom typically puts forth one candidate per vacancy, based on a vote by the entire Alumni Council. While they may nominate one or two candidates under current rules, the Alumni Council has, since 2009, consistently voted to nominate a single, highly vetted candidate per alumni trustee seat. This approach reflects the goal of identifying the best-qualified individual for the role, similar to a board of directors appointment, through the rigorous work of the NomCom.
The Dartmouth Board of Trustees
The Board consists of 26 members: the president of the College, the governor of New Hampshire (ex officio), eight (8) alumni trustees, and sixteen (16) charter trustees. NomCom is therefore seeking candidates to fill two (2) of the eight (8) alumni trustee seats in 2026.
Trustee Eligibility and Responsibilities
Any person who has been granted an academic degree by the College (undergraduate or graduate school), demonstrates strong commitment to Dartmouth's mission, and is able to fulfill the responsibilities of trusteeship may be considered.
In addition to acting as fiduciaries, a key board responsibility is oversight of the College administration, which manages day-to-day operations. In this oversight capacity, the Board selects the president, provides financial oversight, and ensures that the College maintains high legal and ethical standards and has adequate resources to fulfill its mission.
Both charter trustees and alumni trustees are elected for one four-year term. The Board determines whether a trustee who has completed one term of service shall be elected by the Board for a second term.
What is the difference between an alumni and a charter trustee? Do they have different responsibilities?
The primary difference is in the nomination process: alumni trustees are nominated by the alumni body, while charter trustees are nominated by the Board of Trustees. Once elected, all trustees share the same responsibilities, expectations, and term limits.
Debunking NomCom Myths
Not true. The process to nominate an alumni trustee is very democratic and expansive. When a trustee seat needs to be filled, the call for nominations is broadly advertised to the entire alumni community. Any alum can nominate another alum, and every nominee is considered by the NomCom. Moreover, in its role to identify the best candidate choice as an alumni trustee, the NomCom is beholden only to our alumni community.
Not true. The Dartmouth Board is active and egalitarian. All trustees, regardless of whether they came to the Board through the alumni or the charter selection process, serve as equal members of the Board. The duties and powers of each of the Trustees are exactly the same, as are the terms for each (all can serve two four-year terms). In fact, the current Board chair and Board vice-chair are both alumni-nominated trustees.
Not true. The NomCom does not consider, nor even has access to, the giving history of any of the candidates nominated by our alumni. The NomCom focuses solely on each candidate’s background, skills, and experience and how well their qualities would strengthen the Board and best enable it to achieve its governance mission.
Not true. NomCom members are selected by alumni councilors; College leadership is not involved. Here’s how the process works:
The current NomCom identifies four second- or third-year alumni councilors and nominates them for the two NomCom positions that open each year.
The four candidates then prepare statements and written answers to questions germane to the role of a NomCom member.
The candidate statements are provided to all alumni councilors for their education and review.
At the spring session of Alumni Council, councilors vote for their top two choices. The results of that election are announced at the end of that session.
The two new members of NomCom begin their duties on July 1, each serving a three-year term.
Not true. As we outlined previously, NomCom is independent from and in no way accountable to the Board of Trustees and College leadership for its activities and decisions. While we do solicit feedback and perspective from the Board and College leadership in terms of what background, skills, or experience would make for a strong trustee candidate, NomCom participates in its own separate, confidential selection process to identify its nominee(s). The decision regarding which candidate is ultimately nominated rests solely with the NomCom.
Not true. Each year preceding an impending alumni trustee opening, several communications vehicles (e.g., ads in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, emails, etc.) are employed to inform the entire alumni community of the opportunity to nominate alumni for the trustee seat. Any alum can nominate another alum, and all nominations are discussed by NomCom. The NomCom continues to receive and discuss alumni nominations until such a time, prescribed by the timeline maintained by the Association of Alumni executive committee each year, that a nominee must be presented to the Alumni Council to be affirmed (or not) by Council for the open trustee seat.
Not true. The work of the NomCom is exhaustive and comprehensive. The NomCom team, an independent body of alumni peers, is democratically elected by the full Alumni Council to represent the alumni community in identifying and selecting trustees.
Prior to concluding its review of nominations, Alumni Council holds a vote, and all current councilors can vote to determine whether one or two candidates per open trustee seat shall be put presented by the NomCom to the Alumni Council. Nominees then are presented at the fall session of the Council, and councilors are given the opportunity both to ask questions of the nominees and to vote to approve the nomination.
The process, however, necessarily does not end there. As outlined in the timeline maintained by the Association of Alumni executive committee, a process is prescribed by which alumni can put forth a petition candidate or candidates to challenge the candidate(s) approved by the Council. An election then will follow, in which all Dartmouth alumni can participate. The winner(s) of that election then will serve on the Board of Trustees.