Native American Expert Appointed Dartmouth Dean of Faculty

Hanover — N. Bruce Duthu, a professor of Native American studies and scholar of Native law and policy, has been appointed dean of the faculty at Dartmouth College.

The next leader of the arts and sciences faculty will serve a four-year term, according to a college news release, and will oversee 41 departments and programs and more than 400 scholars.

“I am humbled to be offered this position,” Duthu said in the release. “For me, nothing can be more compelling than working with our faculty to prepare students to have the facility, the agility and the openness to deal with a constantly changing world. That’s the essence of a liberal arts education.”

A 1980 Dartmouth graduate, Duthu earned a law degree from Loyola University New Orleans and now serves as the college’s Samson Occom Professor of Native American Studies.

Duthu, a member of the United Houma Nation, is a “nationally recognized” expert in federal Native law and tribal sovereignty, according to the release.

He also has served on the faculty of Vermont Law School, and this past September was nominated by President Obama to the National Council on the Humanities. The nomination lapsed at the end of Obama presidency, however.

On July 1, Duthu will succeed outgoing dean Mike Mastanduno, a professor of government.