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The Route to the Top
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Hart speaking with students - Photo by Kindra Clineff
"UNH is one of the gems of higher education," says Hart, shown here with students in front of Dimond Library. "Every young person in New Hampshire should aspire to go here." Photo by Kindra Clineff

Hart emphasizes that her professional advancement would have been impossible without the partnership that she and Randy enjoy. Their commitment to their family and to working for each other's success enabled both of them to pursue challenging careers while raising four daughters. "Randy is the perfect dad for daughters," Hart says. "He is totally without ego in the sense that he never tries to impose his own views or hopes on them. He just enjoys them for who they are. He's a tremendous friend to each of them, and he's a heck of a lot of fun to be around."

Now the daughters are grown up and pursuing careers of their own. Kimberly is a manager for a medical practice in Missoula, Montana; Liza is an architect in Salt Lake City; Emily just completed a master's degree in environmental science at the University of Western Washington; and Allyson is a medical student at the University of California in San Francisco. "Every parent enters into child-rearing with the full expectation that their child will be healthy, happy and productive," Hart says. "Not every parent gets to have that, so we know that it's a gift."

It's a tradition in the Hart family to begin every major transition with a trek into the wild, spending a quiet week or two in the mountains, getting refocused and re-energized. "My whole family has a strong sense of the beauty of the natural world and a deep need to be out in it," Hart says. "Randy and I have spent a great deal of time and energy outdoors with our children because that is

Southwestern Art - Photo by Kindra Clineff The decor of the president's house has changed dramatically with the arrival of the Harts, who enjoy collecting art of the Southwest. Shown here: a still life by Santa Fe artist R.A. Day.
such an important part of who we are. Our annual 10-day family backpacking trip became a spiritual pilgrimage for all of us--an opportunity to spend time together and talk and see one another as people, and not just as parents and children."

When their daughters grew up, Ann and Randy Hart discovered that those backpacking expeditions were a perfect way to vet potential suitors. "The rule is, if you want to marry a Hart daughter, you have to go backpacking with us in the Rockies for at least eight days," Hart laughs. "You learn a lot about each other on a trip like that."

But last spring, when the Harts made the decision to come to UNH, they realized that wrapping things up at Claremont, moving across the country and getting settled at UNH would not allow time for the traditional backcountry trek. So they decided to use the journey east as their transitional pilgrimage, their "emotional and psychological reframing exercise," as Hart puts it.

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