Pictured above: President Sian Leah Beilock talks with student leaders last fall about ideas for honorary degree recipients. (Photo by Sophia Scull ’25)
Each year, the Classes of 1964 and 2014 jointly select a member of the Dartmouth community to receive the The Class of 1964/2014 James Wright ’64a Outstanding Leadership Award. This year’s recipient is President Sian Leah Beilock.
“The award recognizes responsible leadership in the ongoing life of the institution,” says Class of 1964 President Fritz Corrigan ’64. “Our aim is to promote Dartmouth's mission of developing responsible leaders among its graduates, and it was wonderful to see so many leaders come through the nomination process. President Beilock stood out from the rest.”
The classes use a rigorous selection process and seek nominations from a broad cross section of leaders in the greater Dartmouth community, including academic leaders, representatives from Advancement, some past award winners, and professors familiar with the class.
To be considered for the award, an individual must be an alum or a member of the Dartmouth faculty, staff, or administration of strong moral character and with a history of achievements that have benefited others, particularly undergraduates. In addition, candidates must demonstrate the capacity to motivate others and to work collaboratively to achieve their goals.
“President Beilock has positioned Dartmouth as a global leader on some of the most pressing issues in higher education and the world,” Corrigan says.
Among her accomplishments, the classes cited:
- Beilock’s data-driven approach to reinstating standardized testing as part of Dartmouth’s holistic admissions process, a decision that is setting the model for the Ivy League and other peer institutions;
- a commitment to affordability that is expanding access to Dartmouth to middle-income families;
- her championing of constructive dialogue across differences;
- and historic investments in housing and energy infrastructure that are adding 1,000 beds for students, faculty, and staff this decade and reducing campus emissions.
Beilock is an internationally renowned cognitive scientist known for her contributions to the understanding of performance under pressure. She is the author of more than 120 scholarly papers and two books. Among other honors, in recent years she has been elected into the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Before she was elected Dartmouth's 19th president in 2023, she was president of Barnard College.
“It is an honor to have the support and recognition from these classes for what we are doing at Dartmouth to develop the next generation of leaders,” says Beilock, who is expected to receive the award on October 2. “President Wright used to tell every incoming class, ‘We have work to do, you and I—and it is time for us to begin.’ He knew the work of strengthening Dartmouth is shared, and I’m grateful to the Classes of 1964 and 2014 for their work together to carry his legacy forward.”
The Class of 1964/2014 James Wright ’64a Outstanding Leadership Award is the only such alumni-given award to represent two classes spanning a half-century of the Dartmouth experience.
Past recipients include Douglas Van Citters ’99, TH’03,’06, dean of Thayer School of Engineering; Nathaniel Fick ’99, trustee emeritus; Mary Flanagan, the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Digital Humanities and professor of film and media studies; Ron Schram ’64, trustee emeritus, who died in 2023; Buddy Teevens ’79, the nationally acclaimed Dartmouth football coach who died in 2023; Andrew Samwick, the Sandra L. and Arthur L. Irving ’72a P’10 Professor of Economics; and the late James Wright, president emeritus.
President Beilock has positioned Dartmouth as a global leader on some of the most pressing issues in higher education and the world.