Dear Dartmouth community,
We are thrilled to announce that, following a competitive nationwide search, Nina Pavcnik has been named the inaugural dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1.
As I’ve written previously, the school was created to strengthen how faculty, staff, and students partner inside and outside the classroom to have an impact across the world as Dartmouth charts its own path in higher education. Our tight-knit community has always been singular. Now, the School of Arts and Sciences is enhancing how we provide an exceptional, vibrant, and quintessential Dartmouth experience.
Nina knows this well. She has served as interim dean since January 2025, guiding Arts and Sciences through its founding and first year with steady, principled leadership. She also co-led the collaborative Future of Arts and Sciences project that led to that moment, and to the many steps forward she and her team have taken since then.
The search committee—chaired by Lincoln Filene Professor in Human Relations Thalia Wheatley—recognized Nina’s deep understanding of the new school’s purpose and her ability to lead. I am grateful to them for their tireless work and guidance.
Currently the Niehaus Family Professor in International Studies and a professor of economics, Nina joined Dartmouth in 1999 after earning her PhD at Princeton and her BA at Yale. Over the course of her career, she has become a leading scholar of how trade policy affects inequality and growth in lower-income countries—work that has informed policy discussions at the World Bank and IMF and been featured at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium.
A recipient of Dartmouth's Dean of Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentoring and Advising, Nina has made supporting early-career scholars a hallmark of her service. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research, and has served as editor or co-editor of major journals including the Journal of Economic Perspectives and the Journal of International Economics. As a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, she traveled the country engaging students in conversations about liberal arts education, globalization, and critical inquiry.
This historic moment is a critical step in the multiyear process of conceiving and launching the School of Arts and Sciences, initiated by President Emeritus Philip J. Hanlon '77 and led by former Provost David Kotz '86, former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Elizabeth F. Smith, and Nina herself. Much work has happened to bring us to this point, and more work lies ahead. It is an exciting moment for Dartmouth to see the progress and imagine its future.
We are grateful to the search committee members for their dedication to this process, and to the Dartmouth community members who participated in listening sessions throughout the fall, as well as all of you who have played a role in the implementation of the new school.
Please join us in congratulating Nina!
Sian Leah Beilock
President
Santiago Schnell
Provost