Doug Van Citters - Faculty Advisor - Men's Heavyweight Rowing Support Staff

Doug Van Citters

Title:
Faculty Advisor
Alma Mater:
Dartmouth '99
Email:
douglas.van.citters@dartmouth.edu
Phone (603):
603-646-6406
At Dartmouth:
4th Year (2020-)

Doug Van Citters, a member of the Class of 1999 with a master’s degree and Ph.D. in engineering from the Thayer School, took over the role of Faculty Athletics Representative for the department in the fall of 2020.

Athletics have played a big role in Van Citter’s life, competing on the heavyweight rowing team all four years while earning Academic All-Ivy League honors twice. He also sailed competitively before, during and after Dartmouth. A decade after graduating magna cum laude as a double major in engineering and environmental earth sciences, he became involved with the Big Green athletics department once again as the faculty advisor for the heavyweight rowing team in 2009. Van Citters continues in that role today and has gradually expanded his advising and support of engineering student-athletes in numerous sports.

“I’m very excited to take on this role,” Van Citters said. “College sports played a large part in forming who I was and who I’ve become. From this experience, I know just how important sports are to our students’ identities, and what sorts of competing pressures they face.”

Upon graduating, Van Citters worked as a hydrogeologist for two years before returning to Hanover to pursue his graduate degrees. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he stayed on as a research associate at Thayer for a year before joining the faculty as a research assistant professor and lecturer in 2007. He was promoted to assistant professor of engineering in 2010, then was named an associate professor in 2017. Van Citters is also an adjunct associate professor of both chemistry and orthopaedics since 2018 and 2019, respectively.

“I want to remain a champion for the ‘whole student,’ which means that I care deeply about the things I learned outside of the classroom … both good and bad,” Van Citters continued. “Every Dartmouth student has their own experiences to lean on and will have their own stories to tell about how their identity at Dartmouth built them into citizens and professionals, regardless of whether they are athletes, artists or social activists. I want to ensure that we are supporting all of them so we can maximize experiential learning both inside and out of the classroom.”

Van Citters has been recognized numerous times throughout his career, earning the Thayer Dean's Mentoring Award in 2017; the Woodhouse Excellence in Teaching Award in 2019; and the Thayer School Outstanding Service Award for Faculty in 2020.