The Dartmouth Board of Trustees discussed academic innovation and how to enhance Dartmouth’s strengths and increase the impact of the College’s knowledge creation at the board’s annual fall meeting on Sept. 10-12.

President Phil Hanlon ’77 and Provost Carolyn Dever presented to the board on the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields nationally and ways the College can distinguish itself in how it integrates these disciplines into the overall Dartmouth experience. Employment and educational opportunities involving STEM fields are profound for our students because of the way STEM education develops and sharpens minds, noted President Hanlon. They are also constantly evolving, he added.

“Information technology has completely altered the landscape,” said Hanlon. “Data harvesting and simulation are paramount, and outcomes are now focused on concepts and ideas over computation. Integrated problems—those that challenge us with their many components—are increasingly prevalent, and to get to the heart of those problems and their human elements, you need to collapse the boundary among STEM and the social sciences and humanities. Dartmouth can lead in this important effort.”