School Notes: Yale College
January/February 2020

Outstanding instructors honored

In December, Yale College dean Marvin Chun honored the recipients of the annual Poorvu Family Fund for Academic Innovation, created to recognize excellence in teaching. This year’s recipients were Arielle Baskin-Sommers, assistant professor of psychology; Rohit De, associate professor of history and, at Yale Law School, associate research scholar; Adriane Steinacker, senior lecturer in physics; and Stefan Steinerberger, assistant professor of mathematics.

Inaugural Swensen Scholars named

The Swensen Scholars program was created earlier this year by donors in honor of David Swensen, chief investment officer and professor (adjunct) of management, to recognize, celebrate, and support Yale College students who excel both in the classroom and in athletics or the arts. The fall members of the inaugural cohort were: Charlie Elwes ’19, men’s heavyweight crew; Ella Schulenburg ’20, women’s crew; Nic Baird ’19, sailing; and Ami Gianchandani ’22, women’s golf. The spring members will be named in early 2020.

Five Yale Rhodes Scholars named

Lillian Moore-Eissenberg ’20, Christina Pao ’20, Laura Plata ’19, Marwan Safar Jalani ’20, and Liana Wang ’20 have been named Rhodes Scholars. Moore-Eissenberg will pursue a BPhil in philosophy at Oxford; Pao, a Truman Scholar, also completing an MA in political science, will work toward an MPhil in sociology and demography. Plata, who graduated in May, will pursue MSc degrees in refugee and forced migration studies and in comparative social policy. Jalani will seek an MPhil in comparative government, and Wang will study toward the MPhil in politics.