Dartmouth Launches Wright Center with $15 Million Gift

Dartmouth in Hanover has created the Susan and James Wright Center for the Study of Computation and Just Communities, an academic center dedicated to researching and advancing democratic, equitable societies through the use of computational techniques and innovations.

Named in honor of President Emeritus James Wright and Susan DeBevoise Wright, the center is made possible by a $15.5 million gift from Sally and William H. Neukom '64, chair emeritus of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees, former general counsel for Microsoft, former president of the American Bar Association, and a passionate advocate for democratic governance across the globe.

The Neukoms' gift to establish the Wright Center allows Dartmouth to intensify its focus on understanding the role of computation in informing essential questions about good governance, human rights, and the relationship between governments and the governed.

Using tools such as computer simulations, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and complex statistical analysis, initiatives supported by the center will explore a broad range of topics, many of which expose the double-edged sword of computational advances in the public and governmental sphere. The topics will include the dynamics of surveillance and safety, the protection of free speech in a time of widespread of misinformation, and the dangers—as well as the artistic possibilities—of image manipulation and creation. Broader areas of study will include how technological advances are transforming the marketplace, the environment, and the breadth of economic and educational opportunity. Issues and questions of interest related to democratic values and human rights will span the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

"The Susan and James Wright Center for the Study of Computation and Just Communities will expand our understanding of the multifaceted relationship between the individual and government and how technology can be harnessed to benefit entire societies," says President Philip J. Hanlon '77. "With our long tradition of computer science excellence and our commitment to interdisciplinary research, Dartmouth is set to be an international leader in this emerging field of scholarship."

Establishment of the Wright Center comes at a time when computation is expanding and accelerating research in nearly all disciplines at Dartmouth and student interest in technology is skyrocketing. More than 70 percent of all Dartmouth undergraduates take at least one computer science or engineering course, and the number of computer science majors has more than quadrupled during the past decade.

To meet this burgeoning interest, Dartmouth is creating in the West End of campus a crossroads of learning about technology and computing within its renowned liberal-arts experience, enabling every undergraduate to take courses in computer science and engineering.

Elements of the $15.5 million gift to realize Dartmouth's vision for the Neukom Institute, now featuring the Wright Center, include endowing these positions, which, says William Neukom, will provide a critical mass for the institute:

• The Susan and James Wright Professorship of the Study of Computation and Just Communities and Director of the Wright Center, within the social sciences
• The John G. Kemeny Professorship of the Study of Computation and Just Communities, within the Department of Computer Science

An Expansion of Research Into Abuses and Rights

Several Neukom Fellows—postdoctoral scholars who use computational methods and novel data sources to tackle complex topics—have conducted research related to civil, democratic communities over the past 16 years, and they're bringing their research into the classroom. The Wright Center will be a catalyst for expanding research and curricular opportunities.

Acting as an organizing forum, the center will also promote public programs and seek out direct connections with other universities and NGOs, including the WJP. Plans are underway for a summer workshop that will give scholars from a range of fields an introduction to the techniques and challenges that underlie this work.

 'A Challenge and a Means'

President Emeritus Wright said he and his wife are deeply honored to have the center named in their honor.

"Our world needs institutions such as Dartmouth enriching our understanding of what constitutes, enables, and protects a 'just community.' These are exciting, crucial questions," he says. "We are eager to see the power of this gift. It properly provides a challenge and a means rather than a product or an answer. Susan and I are confident there will be robust responses from Dartmouth faculty and students to this challenge, and we look forward to helping advance the center's scholarship."

Pictured from left Susan DeBevoise Wright President Emeritus James Wright. (Photo by Ryan Bent Photography)