April 10, 2019
Dear colleagues,
I am delighted to announce that Alan Gerber has been reappointed to a five-year term as FAS Dean of Social Science, effective July 1, 2019. Alan is the Charles C. and Dorathea S. Dilley Professor of Political Science; Professor of Economics, of Statistics and Data Science, of Health Policy and Management (Public Health), and in the Institution for Social and Policy Studies; and Director of the Center for the Study of American Politics.
In this role, Alan will continue to oversee the departments and programs in the Division of Social Science, identifying and addressing issues of concern to individual departments and the division as a whole, and overseeing tenure, promotion, and ladder faculty searches. Since 2014, when Alan began in his role as Social Science Divisional Director (a position converted to Dean in 2016), he has been a vital member of the FAS leadership team not only within the division, but in the FAS more broadly.
Among his numerous contributions are his leadership of the implementation committee for the revised FAS Tenure and Appointments Policy (FASTAP 2016), his central role in the transition of the Department of Statistics to the Department of Statistics and Data Science, and the numerous collaborations he has facilitated across departments, especially through the development of a certificate in Data Science and a new course, “YData: An Introduction to Data Science.” Alan is deeply committed to an inclusive vision for data science, and these innovations in departmental organization and teaching help make data science available as a resource for training and intellectual growth within the division of Social Science, the FAS, the university, and beyond. He serves as chair of the provost’s University-Wide Committee on Data-Intensive Social Science, identifying challenges and opportunities across the university in this vital area. At the same time, Alan has also partnered with the division’s departments and programs to facilitate hiring faculty members who pursue research at the boundaries of their disciplines while maintaining a strong commitment to teaching and mentoring both within and beyond the classroom.
Alan has also remained active as a scholar and teacher. Since he began his FAS service, he has published over 20 papers and an award-winning book with Princeton University Press (Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine), and he has been elected a fellow of the Society for Political Methodology. Over his career, Alan has authored or edited five books and numerous articles. His current research focuses on how evidence is used in decision making and public policy and on applying experimental and other statistical methods to study political behavior. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences.
Working alongside Alan has been a pleasure and a privilege. He is tireless in his dedication to social science both within and beyond the university, and unmatched in his ability not only to identify areas where Yale can learn from the example of other institutions, but to bring those opportunities from ideas to actualities. I feel fortunate to have him as a colleague.
In the course of conversations with faculty and staff across the university, I learned that my experience is not unique. As I undertook the review process, person after person spoke to the ways that Alan has contributed to their well-being and to the well-being of the units with which they are associated, and to his efforts to support research across the broad range of approaches practiced by our colleagues in the Social Science division. I was gratified to learn that Alan has been such an excellent colleague and partner to so many of you.
We are fortunate to have this dedicated and effective leader joining us for another five-year term. Please join me in congratulating Alan on his reappointment.
Warmly,
Tamar Gendler
Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy
Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science