James Wright announced this morning that he would step down as president of Dartmouth College in June 2009. Mr. Wright, a former Marine, said he planned to devote himself to creating educational opportunities for disabled veterans after he retires.
Mr. Wright’s departure will coincide with the end of the college’s $1.3-billion fund-raising campaign. Dartmouth has already raised $1-billion toward that goal.
Mr. Wright, 68, has been Dartmouth’s president since August 1998, and has been at the college for almost 40 years as a professor of American political history and as an administrator.
The college has thrived financially under Mr. Wright. Its endowment, for example, has grown from $1.8-billion to $3.8-billion. But some alumni have become restless during his tenure, pushing candidates for election to the Board of Trustees through independent campaigns. —Martin Van Der Werf
