Appointment of the FAS Dean of Science

Friday, May 6, 2022

[Summary: This message announces the appointment of Larry Gladney as FAS Dean of Science. I am grateful for the leadership of current Dean of Science Jeffrey Brock, who will now assume a full-time role as Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and to the members of the FAS Science Dean Search Advisory Committee for their consultation and advice.]

To: FAS faculty and staff
Cc: FAS Dean’s Office, FAS Steering, Provost’s Office, President’s Office, Vice Presidents, University Cabinet, GSAS Dean’s Office, Yale College Dean’s Office, Office of Public Affairs and Communication, Office of Faculty Administrative Services

Dear colleagues,

I write today with an update on leadership in the FAS Division of Science.

I am delighted to announce that Larry Gladney, Professor of Physics and Phyllis A. Wallace Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development in the FAS has accepted my invitation to serve as the FAS Dean of Science for a five-year term, effective July 1, 2022, pending formal approval by the Yale Corporation. During the Fall 2022 term, Larry will hold dual roles as FAS Dean of Science and Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development, as we consider how best to distribute decanal leadership responsibilities thereafter.

I am grateful to Jeffrey Brock, Zhao and Ji Professor of Mathematics who has served simultaneously and with distinction as FAS Dean of Science and Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) since 2019. He will now assume a full-time role as Dean of SEAS, which will become a standalone school effective July 1. I hope that you will join me in thanking Dean Brock for his visionary leadership during the course of his term: he has led strategic planning efforts that have advanced the sciences not only in the FAS, but across the university. He has overseen major changes to the landscape of the sciences at Yale; his stewardship of the move to Kline Tower, in particular, is a notable achievement. 

A renowned physicist who works at the intersection of experimental particle physics and cosmology, Larry has served as the inaugural Phyllis A. Wallace Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development in the FAS since 2019. Prior to joining the FAS faculty, Larry was appointed as the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Professor for Faculty Excellence in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Associate Dean for Natural Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. During his time at Penn, he served terms as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and chair of the Faculty Senate. He has also been a member of numerous panels and committees for the NSF, NASA, and other federal agencies. An advocate for equity in education, Larry was the director and principal investigator of the Penn Science Teacher institute and actively participates in science outreach. In the FAS, Larry has led efforts to increase faculty diversity through strategic approaches to recruitment. He led the development of the FAS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Unit Plan and has worked closely with units across the FAS to strengthen our efforts to provide faculty mentorship and support. In addition, he has served on a number of university-wide committees, including the President’s Diversity and Inclusion Working Group and the Provost’s Council on Research.

Larry’s research focuses on fundamental connections between matter, energy, space, and time, and explores the accelerated expansion of the universe. To that end, he is currently involved in mission planning for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which promises to lead to new understandings of the history of our universe. Gladney is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and he has led projects for the BaBAR Collaboration, Fermilab, and the Supernovae/Acceleration Probe simulation team, among many others.

In recent years, Larry and Jeff have worked together closely on the challenging but important work of building a culture of greater inclusivity in SEAS and the Division of Science, guiding our science and engineering departments in the development of action plans for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This collaborative effort has had a palpable impact on our community, particularly in the area of faculty recruitment. I look forward to continuing to work with Larry and Jeff during this ongoing period of exciting growth for the sciences and engineering at Yale; and to the collaborations that will continue to connect SEAS and the FAS Division of Science.

I am grateful to the members of the FAS Dean of Science Search Advisory Committee, whose recommendations were instrumental in guiding this appointment. The committee was exceptionally thorough in their process: they conducted 3 town hall meetings, attended by faculty, staff, and students from across the FAS; nearly 50 interviews and meetings with individual faculty members; and developed recommendations that reflect a broad range of input from across the FAS and the university. I offer my thanks to Scott Miller, Irénée du Pont Professor of Chemistry, who served as committee chair, for overseeing this process.

Warmest wishes,

Tamar

Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy
Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science