Appointment of Peter Schiffer as Director for Strategic Projects in the FAS Dean’s Office

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

November 17, 2021

To: FAS Faculty
Cc: FAS Steering; FAS Dean’s Office; FAS Lead Administrators, Operations Managers, and Chair’s Assistants; Yale College Dean’s Office; GSAS Dean’s Office; President’s Office; Provost’s Office; OPAC

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce that Peter Schiffer, Frederick W. Beinecke Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Physics, will be joining the leadership team in the FAS Dean’s Office as the Director for Strategic Projects.

In this role, Peter will work with the Dean of FAS, the Dean of SEAS, the FAS Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development, and the FAS Divisional Deans; his portfolio will include a range of projects aimed at the advancement of faculty excellence and flourishing. Peter’s initial efforts will focus on exploring ways to help departments foster the success of early career ladder faculty; supporting Larry Gladney in the implementation of the FAS plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging; and developing strategies to enhance external recognition of our faculty’s scholarship.  

Peter currently is the Director of Graduate Studies in Applied Physics, is serving this fall as the leader of the DEIB planning committee for SEAS and as a member of the FAS DEIB planning committee, and in a number of other capacities on campus.   He is also a senior fellow of the Association of American Universities and a member of the Council of Representatives of the American Physical Society.   He previously has served as the vice provost for research at Yale, the vice chancellor for research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the associate vice president for research and director of strategic initiatives at Penn State.

Please join us in welcoming Peter in this new role.

Tamar, Jeff, Larry, Steven, and Katie

Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Jeffrey Brock
Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and FAS Dean of Science

Larry Gladney
Phyllis A. Wallace Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development in the FAS

Steven Wilkinson
Acting FAS Dean of Social Science

Kathryn Lofton
FAS Dean of Humanities