School Notes: Yale College
July/August 2022

New dean named for Yale College

Pericles Lewis, the Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature, professor of English, vice president for global strategy, and vice provost for academic initiatives, has been appointed the next dean of Yale College. Lewis is an internationally recognized expert on the qualities and purposes of a liberal education and a devoted educator and mentor. He brings to the role over two decades of leadership experience at Yale and other institutions. 

Among his many accomplishments, Lewis worked with the Yale School of Public Health to launch an online executive master’s degree program, and the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs to create a new master’s degree in public policy. He worked with the deans of medicine, nursing, and public health to strengthen research in global health by establishing the Yale Institute for Global Health and has served on its leadership advisory group. He also has expanded domestic and international educational opportunities for Yale students by overseeing the development of programs with the MacMillan Center, Yale Center Beijing, the Yale Young Global Scholars Program, and a number of other departments and centers. Between 2012 and 2017, Lewis left Yale to serve as the founding president of Yale-NUS College. In that role, he oversaw the development of the college’s innovative curriculum and the recruitment of a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff. His five-year term as dean of Yale College began on July 1.

Five Knight-Hennessy Scholars chosen

One graduating senior and four Yale alumni have been named Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University: Jean Wang ’22 will pursue a PhD in physics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences; Lydia Burleson ’21 will pursue a PhD in English; David H. Jiang is studying toward a JD degree at Stanford Law School; Araba Koomson ’17 is working toward a master’s degree in business administration at Stanford Graduate School of Business; and Henry Zhang is also pursuing a JD at Stanford Law School. The Knight-Hennessy Scholars participate in the King Global Leadership Program and receive up to three years of financial support to pursue a graduate degree program in any of Stanford’s seven graduate schools.