People

Critical to our work — both its process and its outcome — is the ability to collaborate productively with a wide and inclusive range of colleagues who are experts in their fields: historians; community activists; ethicists; archivists; and all who help shape and narrate the stories that matter most to them.

Barbara Will

Barbara Will is the A. and R. Newbury Professor of English and the Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives at Dartmouth College. From 2015-2020 she was the Associate Dean for the Arts and Humanities at Dartmouth. Before stepping into administration, she led Moving Dartmouth Forward, the largest student life initiative in Dartmouth’s history, which completely transformed Dartmouth’s residential life experience and reaffirmed the College’s core principles of community.

Barbara has worked closely with the National Humanities Alliance in Washington D.C. and the New Hampshire Humanities Council on initiatives to increase the visibility of the Arts and Humanities and the value of the liberal arts in local and national communities. She serves on the board of the University of Massachusetts Honors College at Amherst and has been an advisor to Dartmouth’s President Phil Hanlon. She is currently guiding the effort at Dartmouth to tell the story of the history of coeducation through permanent displays in the main building on campus, Dartmouth Hall.

Author of two books and numerous articles, Barbara has also published opinion pieces on higher education, historical accountability, and sexual harassment in such venues as The Guardian, The Conversation, and the Boston Herald. She lives in Etna, New Hampshire with her family.

To contact Barbara, please write: barbara.montgomerywill@gmail.com.

Charlotte Bacon, Assistant Vice Provost for Research Development and Alliances, supports research across all disciplines at Dartmouth College and has helped faculty secure funding from the NSF, the NEH, the ACLS, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Archives. She has helped secure more than $150M in funding for colleagues across the College. Before coming to Dartmouth, she was the Executive Director of the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), one of the first truth commissions to focus on Indigenous people and foster care. She wrote the TRC’s final report, oversaw the gathering and archiving of statements, and organized the media campaign and public forums that shared the Commission’s recommendations.

A formerly tenured member of the English Department at the University of New Hampshire, Charlotte has published essays in The New York Times as well as five works of award-winning fiction. A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University, Charlotte lives on Sprucehead Island, Maine with her husband and three children.

To contact Charlotte, please write: charlotte.montgomerywill@gmail.com.

Dr. Maria Cole serves as the President and Executive Director of Paragon Florida, Inc. and previously served 9 years as a Board member of the organization. In this capacity, she has tirelessly advocated for the organization and its unrivaled benefit to the community. She has been able to build upon her relationships with community members, organizational and business leaders, local elected officials, and advocate for the needs and resources Paragon can provide and articulate the shared vision of community building and small business development.

Maria graduated from Dartmouth College in 1984 and received her Doctorate in Dental Medicine from Temple University School of Dentistry where she was an Associate Professor of Restorative Dentistry and received her certification in Prosthodontics in 1993.

Dr. Cole had a successful private dental practice for 20 years that also served as an extension of her community engagement. Her practice included providing pro bono treatment for indigent and migrant families, farm workers, and displaced victims of domestic violence, as well as young adults who aged out of the foster care system.

Currently in Palm Beach County, she coordinates conferences, programming, and training sessions for community organizations and small businesses. She works with issue driven campaign staff to develop local leadership for community engagement. Maria is committed to the pursuit of social and economic justice for the underserved and disenfranchised people and communities. She has a passion for the details of political campaigns; excels in strategic leadership of community organizations and is adept in budget management and planning; social media development; and fundraising. Maria shares a specific community focus on minority communities of Riviera Beach and West Palm Beach and is driven by community engagement that transforms individual lives and neighborhoods by fostering individual agency into advocacy.

Throughout her more than 25 years of living in Palm Beach County, she has served on a number of Boards – from displaced women gaining the skills and support for economic self sufficiency, homeless, young adults, and children. All of these organizations shared a mission of improving the quality of life for the area’s most vulnerable and marginalized.

Dr. Cole also serves as the Chief of Staff and business coordinator for Harvard Professor, Dr. Cornel West – a Dartmouth College Montgomery Fellow, author, and lecturer. She lives in Juno Beach, Florida.