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NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 50 · yaledailynews.com
PROVOST TO PRESIDENT
MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
BY JULIA ZORTHIAN AND JANE DARBY MENTON STAFF REPORTERS Provost Peter Salovey will assume the role of Yale University’s 23rd president next fall, succeeding current University President Richard Levin. The Yale Corporation named Salovey Yale’s next president in a Thursday afternoon announce-
ment before faculty and administrators in the Hall of Graduate Studies. The decision came after a nearly three-monthlong search by the Presidential Search Committee, a group of eight Corporation members and four faculty members formed after Levin announced on Aug. 30 that he plans to step down at the end of the 2012-’13 academic year. Salovey had been a fixture
in the Yale community for three decades before his appointment as provost in 2008 — as a graduate student, teacher and dean of both Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. “When we looked at Peter and [matched him] against that search statement, plus the long history of the place and the relationships he already had, it was a hand in glove fit,” Chair of the
Presidential Search Committee Charles Goodyear ’80 said. Salovey said he was “thrilled” when Bass called him to deliver the news of the Yale Corporation’s decision to offer him the position on Sunday night. “After more than 30 years here, it’s just so much fun to think about the next couple of decades,” Salovey told the News. “Yale has given me so much, and
Search ends abruptly BY JANE DARBY MENTON AND JULIA ZORTHIAN STAFF REPORTERS From the first day of the search for a new University president, Provost Peter Salovey was considered a strong candidate — but not just for Yale. Members of the Presidential Search Committee said they vetted around 150 candidates, roughly the same number as in past searches, and Salovey’s experience and vision for the University made him a clear front-runner in the selection process. But committee members considered another factor during the process: Princeton University and Dartmouth College are currently also searching for new presidents. Yale’s past four provosts all left the University for top leadership positions at major research institutions, and Salovey’s administrative track record at Yale, where he has served as dean of both Yale College and the Graduate School before entering the Provost’s Office, qualified him for top positions at other universities. The presidential search that led to Levin’s appointment in 1993 took 10 months, and Yale Corporation Senior Fellow Roland Betts ’68 predicted in late August that the search for his successor would take
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I really want to give back through my service.” Salovey said he hopes Levin will appoint a new provost before Salovey vacates the position on June 30. As provost, Salovey steered the University through the 2008 financial crisis, which caused a nearly 25 percent decrease in the value of the endowment in 2009 and tore a $350 million hole in
four to six months. But the process ended just 65 days after it began. Richard Lifton, Genetics Department chair, said they had to “move with alacrity” because of the ongoing searches at other
universities. The Yale Corporation interviewed the Search Committee’s top candidates last month, and Corporation members decided SEE SEARCH PAGE 8
SEE APPOINTMENT PAGE 8
Salovey groomed by 30 years at Yale BY SOPHIE GOULD STAFF REPORTER
MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
the University’s budget. Salovey assumed all of his administrative roles at Yale under Levin’s leadership, and Levin said he has enjoyed working with Salovey as a “partner and collaborator” for the last 20 years. “Obviously I appointed him as provost so I am very confident in him,” Levin said. “I’m delighted
The search for the next Yale president came to an abrupt end last Sunday night, when Provost Peter Salovey’s phone rang. “I was so thrilled,” Salovey said of the discovery that he would assume the presidency on June 30, 2013. For Salovey, the past few days have been a “whirlwind,” but many of colleagues said the news that he will succeed University President Richard Levin came as no surprise. An administrator with demonstrated leadership ability, Salovey first came to Yale as a graduate student 30 years ago and has since served as dean of both Yale College and the Graduate School before assuming the University’s second-highest position as provost in 2008 — months before the onset of the recent financial downturn. Amid plummeting university endowments and crippling budget cuts nationwide, Salovey was responsible for helping set Yale on a path of recovery, and many professors have said he maintained the widespread trust of the faculty throughout the ordeal. Salovey has also held major roles in the implementation of some of the largest initiatives undertaken by the University in recent years, including Yale’s partnership with the National University of Singapore in the creation of Yale-NUS and the planning of two new residential colleges.
Edward Bass ’67, senior fellow of the Yale Corporation, said the vote to appoint Salovey was unanimous. “Peter was the heir apparent for a number of years,” said Roland Betts ’68, former senior fellow of the Corporation. “Nobody knows Yale better.” A nearly 25 percent decline in the value of the endowment in fiscal year 2009 tore a roughly $350 million hole in the University’s budget, and Salovey was forced to lead implementation of across-the-board budget cuts three years in a row. While the endowment has yet to recover fully to its high-water mark of $22.9 billion, it has seen positive returns on its investments in recent years and is now valued at roughly $19.3 billion. In January, Levin and Salovey announced that Yale would face a projected $67 million deficit in the 2012–’13 budget. Renowned for his academic work in psychology, Salovey chaired the Yale Psychology Department and championed and developed the concept of emotional intelligence — people’s ability to understand and manage their own emotions and those of others. In the Presidential Search Committee’s Oct. 9 statement announcing the criteria for selecting a new leader for the University, the committee specified that the ideal president would be a scholar and educator. SEE SALOVEY PAGE 8
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