Sally Jaeger

Penny Paquette

Dean's Office

Penny Paquette
Special Assistant to the Dean

"I am a resource that can be assigned to any job, as appropriate."

Penny Paquette has a rich history with the Tuck School: She completed the Tuck MBA in 1976—one of only 15 women in the class—and after a period of time in industry returned to worked at Tuck in 1984, initially taking up a post as a research assistant. Since then, she has been involved, in various capacities, in most of the major developments at the school over the past 20 years. This invaluable experience makes it possible for Paquette, in addition to her primary roles, to serve informally as an internal consultant to many of Tuck's administrators—suggesting ways to resolve problems, identifying sources of information, and providing an historical perspective.

As special assistant to Tuck's Dean Paul Danos, Paquette's duties are wide-ranging, "I am a resource that can be assigned to any job, as appropriate," she explains. However, the majority of her time is spent in four main areas: liaison to Tuck's five research centers and to the Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship; promoter and facilitator of sponsored research activities; long-range planner for the school's campus and facilities; and collaborator with the dean on strategic communication efforts.

The first of those tasks—Paquette's liaison to Tuck's Allwin Initiative and the research centers—draws on her early experience at the school conducting research with Professor J. Brian Quinn (now the William and Josephine Buchanan Professor of Management, emeritus). She gained a valuable perspective on the challenges faced by faculty pursuing significant research agendas. Tuck's research centers and the Allwin Initiative are independently funded entities within the school, reporting directly to the senior associate dean. Paquette guides these entities in directions outlined by the dean and ensures that they have access to the full resources of the school. "I am their watchdog, as well as their cheering section and advocate," she says.

When speaking of her role as promoter and facilitator of sponsored research activities, Paquette points out that, unlike medical and engineering schools, business schools have only recently begun pursuing external funding to support the research activities of their faculty. She hopes to change that trend—at least at Tuck—as she helps members of the faculty and the research centers through the often complex process of accessing a variety of external sources of support (including federal agencies, private foundations, industry associations, and corporations). Her knowledge of the research process and her skill in communicating ideas allow her to help fashion research proposals that not only win grants but also help identify possible future funding sources.

Paquette's role in the development of Tuck's campus and facilities began in 1995 when Dean Danos arrived at Tuck. One of his first goals was to ensure that Tuck remained on the cutting edge in its use of available technology. The dean's special assistant can take credit for project-managing the construction of flexible, technology-enhanced learning spaces (The Whittemore Wing for Information Technology); the development of distance learning and video-conferencing capabilities for use in the MBA program, executive education, faculty research, and global educational partnerships; and the transition to a mobile computing environment for all students. One of Paquette's most rewarding achievements to date was managing the construction of Tuck's new $15 million residential facility, Whittemore Hall. "The facilities—their look and feel and their fit with Tuck's strategy—are a major priority for me." With the dean, Paquette manages the long-range facilities planning process for Tuck in collaboration with Tuck Facilities and the Facilities Planning Office at Dartmouth.

Paquette's fourth and, in some ways, most varied role is in her collaboration with the dean on communication efforts. This work is substantially aided by her in-depth knowledge of Tuck—past, present, and future. This perspective enables her to collaborate effectively with the dean on presentations, speeches, articles, and strategy documents. "One of the dean's most important roles is as a communicator," says Paquette. "In fact, most of what I do as his special assistant involves communication—with and on behalf of the research centers, with faculty and research sponsors, with college committees and architects, and with all of Tuck's constituents."

Whatever the project at Tuck, the dean's special assistant is usually aware of it and is available for informed contribution to facilitating its success. Paquette offers a wealth and breadth of experience and know-how that benefits the whole community and contributes significantly to the attainment of the long-term goals of the school.