About the Center

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.

Jim and Susan Wright

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.

James Wright was president emeritus and Eleazar Wheelock Professor of History at Dartmouth College. The 16th president in the Wheelock Succession, he served as president from 1998 until June 2009. A member of the Dartmouth faculty since 1969, Wright also served as dean of the faculty from 1989-97 and as acting president of the College during the first six months of 1995, while President James O. Freedman was on sabbatical. He served as provost from 1997-98 and was elected president in April, 1998.