Carolyn Dever

Carolyn Dever is a professor of English and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Dartmouth College, where she also served as Provost and chief budget officer. Before stepping into her role at Dartmouth, Carolyn held a number of faculty leadership roles at Vanderbilt University, including acting program director for Women’s and Gender Studies, director of graduate studies in English, and Associate Dean, Executive Dean, Interim Dean, and Dean of the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science. Carolyn’s was the classic case of a junior faculty member recruited into administrative service early:  she was director of graduate studies and of graduate placement at NYU’s English Department before her tenure review there.

Carolyn’s scholarship is focused on issues of gender and sexuality in nineteenth-century British literature and culture; Princeton University Press published her most recent book, Chains of Love and Beauty: The Diary of Michael Field, in April 2022. Carolyn’s scholarly focus on dynamics of power and authority has translated into institutional leadership, where her proudest work has occurred in the development of diverse, inclusive communities for faculty, students, and staff. Carolyn works closely with the ACLU of New Hampshire on a range of civil rights issues, and serves on the board of Northern Stage Theater, a professional theater company in White River Junction, VT. 

Like many academics, Carolyn is part of a dual-academic-career couple: her spouse, Paul Young, is Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at Dartmouth. Carolyn and Paul are parents to a middle-school aged son.