Dartblog

Of course we do, at least in a abstract way, but how about as an institution? With Jim Kim’s precipitous departure from Hanover (yet another professor recently opined to me that Jim the Glib would soon have faced a non-confidence vote had he stayed in town), the question arises as to what is to become of his supposedly innovative Center for the Health Delivery Science. Chairman of the Board Steve Mandel started the place off with a generous gift of $35M (almost 3% of his net worth), but rumors are that plenty of money from the College central budget flows to the Center, too. That’s money that could stay with undergrads, or even go towards moderating the College’s soon-to-be-announced tuition increase.

The Center is run by Kim crony Al Mulley ‘70, who, comme par hazard, chaired the search committee that brought Kim to Hanover for his cup of espresso. My sense is that Kim and Mulley cooked up their little deal well before JYK became President.

Will the Center continue under Phil Hanlon? This choice is among the many hard ones that Phil has to make. Will he have the nerve to do so? At the very least, the place should be self-sustaining.

And by the way, I don’t recall the members of the faculty ever having any kind of say in the creation of Jim and Al’s little project. Isn’t that something they are supposed to do?

Addendum: Other than the appointment of AD Harry Sheehy, Jim Kim’s legacy of three lost years in Hanover is that he diverted a wonderful gift from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees away from the undergraduate world to a pet project that is now orphaned by his departure.