Search for FDO Chief Heats Up

A current Harvard administrator is likely to lead the Freshman Dean’s Office (FDO) when Dean Elizabeth Studley Nathans leaves the post at the end of the year.

Two months after the formal announcement of Nathan’s forced departure—which Nathans herself had been aware of since last winter—a job posting appeared on the Harvard University jobs listings, soliciting a “Strong Internal Candidate” for the full-time position.

The College’s ongoing curricular review might hold changes for the FDO, which currently oversees a staff of associate deans, 60 resident proctors and the various freshmen activities and publications, from orientation programs to the Handbook for Parents.

Nathans’ departure may herald changes to come—including shifting advising away from the freshmen proctors and toward an advising center or formally linking first-years to the Houses. The new dean could usher in the changes to residential and advising life betokened in the review.

The Nov. 2 listing calls for a candidate with an advanced degree and 10 years of related experience in college administration, with a demonstrated commitment to “enhancing the quality of undergraduate life” and “experience in residential life, community building, advising and counseling.”

While Dean Gross said he could not legally comment on potential candidates, Associate Dean of the College Thomas A. Dingman ’67 seems to be the only candidate with the credentials. A fellow member of Gross’ senior staff, Dingman sports a resume that fits the description’s definition of the “Strong Internal Candidate”; as associate dean, a post he has held for over a decade, he oversees residential life and serves as the College’s liaison to the Harvard University Police Department and the athletics program.

Dingman is also the Allston Burr Senior Tutor of Dudley House and has served on various College committees, including the recent committee to investigate the use and abuse of alcohol at Harvard.

In a College administration comprised of mostly fresh faces, Dingman is one of the few holdovers from older days of University Hall.

But Dingman, who has a Master’s degree from the Harvard School of Education, does not fit the mold of previous freshmen deans, who have typically held doctorates, and all of whom have held terminating degrees in their field. Nathans holds a Ph.D. in history.

Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 said he and his new Deputy Dean of the College Patricia O’Brien will review applications as they come in and that while they were seeking somebody from within Harvard, anybody outside may apply as well.

Gross said he has been meeting with focus groups—from freshmen and prefects to House Masters—to discuss the criteria for the new dean. He said yesterday that he had been part of “informal conversations” with staff from the FDO.

Whoever inherits Nathans’ post will be expected to reside at the College, as Nathans does and to supervise FDO programs. The dean will sit on the Administrative Board and may serve on other committees such as the College Crisis Response Team. While Nathans has reported to the Dean of the College, the new dean will report instead to O’Brien, whose post was created just this year.

Nathans declined comment for this article and Dingman could not be reached last night.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu