School Notes: School of Engineering & Applied Science
November/December 2019

New dean appointed

Jeffrey Brock ’92 has been named dean of the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). Brock is also dean of science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and will continue to serve in that role. An internationally recognized data scientist and mathematician, Brock has collaborated in substantial research partnerships with computer scientists and engineers. “By serving simultaneously as the dean of SEAS and FAS dean of science, Jeff will be in a position to lead strategic thinking about the connections across science and engineering,” said Yale president Peter Salovey. Before coming to Yale in 2018, Brock was the founding director of Brown University’s data science initiative and served as the chair of Brown’s mathematics department.

Professor named NAI senior member

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has named Rong Fan, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Yale, as one of its Spring 2019 NAI Senior Members. NAI Senior Members are selected based on their demonstrated capacity to produce remarkable technologies that positively impact society. Fan has been a leader in the field of microtechnologies that facilitate measurements in single cells, as well as genomic, epigenetic, and transcriptional profiling. Beyond leading a research group on campus, Fan has cofounded multiple companies, such as IsoPlexis and Singleron Biotechnologies, stemming from insights made through his academic work.

From SEAS to the big leagues

Simon Whiteman ’19 was drafted by Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants weeks after graduating with a chemical engineering degree. The Trumbull, Connecticut, native spent much of the summer playing for a Giants affiliate, the Augusta GreenJackets in South Carolina. In his final season at Yale, Whiteman finished with a .337 batting average and 34 stolen bases. Off the field, he managed a 3.97 grade point average and was nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship. “I’ve always been a very structured and organized person,” he said. “On campus, it was time to get my schoolwork done and when I was on the field, it was time to get baseball done.”