Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars Reception with President Hanlon

Incoming graduate students and postdocs met with Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon '77 at a reception held at the Hanover Inn, hosted annually by the Dean of the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, F. Jon Kull, and staff from the School office. In addition to meeting President Hanlon, students and postdocs had an opportunity to mingle with key administrative staff, faculty from across the programs, as well as representatives from the Graduate Student Council and the Dartmouth Postdoctoral Association, and other student leaders, including the new Graduate Social Coordinator, Sara Perz-Hintz.

Students and postdocs enjoyed chatting with President Hanlon, who mingled with groups throughout the evening, and learning of the relatively new history of the School, the first to be formed at Dartmouth in more than 100 years. Bringing Dartmouth’s graduate programs and postdoctoral scholars under one administrative umbrella, establishing the School was one of President Hanlon's first proposals and aims to bridge the gap between undergraduates and faculty. The School continues to attract the brightest, most talented minds from around the world, and brings them under an umbrella of research, innovation, and career opportunities in life and physical sciences, medicine, engineering, business, computer science, and the humanities. 

The reception coincided with Postdoctoral Scholar Appreciation Week, which included a reception hosted at the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL) at which Assistant Director Cindy Tobery and Assistant Dean Victoria Blodgett welcomed the postdoctoral community under the umbrella of the School, and introduced some of the many resources and opportunities available to postdocs. Provost Carolyn Dever was in attendance to meet the members of the extraordinary community of postdocs currently on campus. 

This year, approximately 250 graduate students joined the graduate community, and Assistant Dean of Postdoctoral Affairs, Victoria Blodgett, works as the main contact for around 200 postdocs from programs and departments across campus. More than 30 countries are represented in the community, some of whom are members of the International Graduate Mentoring Program, which also recently held a welcome social at One Wheelock. And the Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) also held a Welcome Party not just for Chinese graduate students and postdocs, but also for any new or current graduate students to make new friends and learn more about the Chinese student community at Dartmouth. 

You can find more information about CSSA and other graduate student organizations through the Graduate Student Council homepage. The GSC Facebook group page is also a useful place to find up-to-date information on upcoming events, such as the CSSA Mid-Autumn Festival and the GSC Fall Semi-Formal scheduled for Saturday, September 30. 

Pictures of the events can be found on the School's Flickr page.