Two Thayer Students Selected as 2016 Class Marshals

Marshals are selected by fellow students on the basis of good citizenship, enthusiasm, integrity, and positive impact on others. The marshals carry batons engraved with their names as they lead their classmates to the Green during the Commencement procession.

College photographers Eli Burakian ’00 and Robert Gill shot portraits of this year’s undergraduate and advanced-degree marshals. The marshals were asked to choose their favorite places on campus, and that’s where they were photographed.

Margaux LeBlanc, Th'16

(Photo by Eli Burakian '00)

Hometown: Kennebunk, Maine

Degree: BE, with a concentration in mechatronics

Margaux LeBlanc is a dual-degree student who graduated from Colby College with a BA in computer science in 2015 and spent most of her time with the Colby Outing Club. When she wasn’t with the outing club she was volunteering with Maine adaptive sports and recreation, indulging her passion for skiing. During her two exchange years in the Upper Valley, she found herself at home inside the walls of Thayer. She spent countless hours in those rooms, building mechanical walking beasts, heated bike handlebars, automated xylophones, and to top it off, a hybrid racecar. LeBlanc has loved cars since the age of 8, and finally had the opportunity to design and build one this year as captain of Dartmouth Formula Racing. After graduation, she is moving to Detroit, Mich., to work on battery pack software for General Motors’ hybrid and electrical vehicles.

Favorite place on campus: Thayer’s Allyn Large-Frame Project Workshop

“This lab is where I learned the most at Dartmouth. I became a better leader here and I find the space comfortable because I know where everything is. This room is my own space within Thayer; it is where I can escape by plugging in some good tunes on the massive stereo system and crank away on work or tinker with a part I built. If it had a couch or bed I would have lived there at some point this year.”

Sarah Rood, Th'16

(Photo By Rachel Rood)

Hometown: Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Degree: MEM with a focus in healthcare systems

Sarah Rood came to Dartmouth to expand on her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. After spending the first week in shock over how beautiful Hanover was, Rood says she went full speed ahead participating in the Master of Engineering Management Program (MEM) at Thayer and in the Dartmouth community. She was the vice president of professional development for the MEM Council, organizing events for her fellow classmates. She participated in entrepreneurship activities as a Conrades Fellow, culminating in a social entrepreneurship project aimed at activating students to take charge of their music education. In her down time, Rood played French horn with the Dartmouth Chamber Orchestra and spent many evenings cooking and laughing with members of the graduate community. After graduation, she will be working as a senior product innovation associate at athenahealth in Watertown, Mass., helping make the health care system work as it should.

Favorite place on campus: The Green

“I loved how much the Green was a center of campus. It would be a spot that I knew I would see a friend or colleague passing by. It transformed with the campus throughout the year, from the farmers’ market in the summer to Winter Carnival and everything in between.”