Evan Dobelle Returns With the Briefest of Biographies.

You may remember Evan Debelle from his relentless self-advertisements while he was president of Trinity College in the 1990s. Dobelle put Eddie Perez on his Trinity team. He also promoted himself as a potential governor of Connecticut. Dan Papermaster performed a public service when he prevented Dobelle from hijacking the 1996 vice presidential debate when it was held in Hartford.

Dobelle went on to an abbreviated tenure at the University of Hawaii and eventually came to a humiliating end in academia in 2013 when he skedaddled out the door at Westfield State University in Massachusetts in a remarkably tawdry tale.

Now here he is again. This time on the leadership of Countable–something Massachusetts officials had trouble doing when reviewing Debelle’s expenses at Westfield. It has something to do with advocacy widgets. What’s notable is how much Debelle’s leadership profile leaves out. The veracity of it would depend what you mean by “distinguished”.

• Evan Dobelle SVP, Managing Director / Washington Office
  Evan has had a distinguished career in higher education as President of 5 different colleges and universities. He had been a two term Mayor of his hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts before going to Washington where he served President Carter as Chief of Protocol of the White House, National Treasurer of the DNC and then National Chair of the 1980 Carter / Mondale campaign. He comes to us from Gensler where he was Director of Consulting for Education, Arts and Culture for the worlds largest architecture and design firm.

This 2015 story from the Boston Globe, which uncovered Debelle’s dubious doings at Westfield, summarizes the saga. It notes that Dobelle is banned from working or volunteering at any public institution of higher learning in Massachusetts.