Yale President to Step Down at the End of the School Year

• Yale University President Peter Salovey will step down at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
• He plans to return to his faculty position after he resigns.
• He has served in the position for a decade, being appointed in 2013.

Yale University President Peter Salovey will step down at the end of the academic year, he announced last week in a message to the university community.

“I believe the best time to search for a new leader is when things are going well,” he wrote. “Therefore, I have decided that the 2023-2024 academic year will be my final one as president.”

Salovey, who also serves as the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology, along with holding secondary faculty appointments in the School of Management, the School of Public Health, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, and the sociology department, said he plans to return to teaching full time after stepping down.

“Ultimately, I plan to return to the Yale faculty, work on some long-delayed writing and research projects, and renew my love of teaching and working with students while continuing to help with fundraising,” he said.

His last day is expected to be June 30, 2024.

Salovey first arrived at Yale in 1981 as a graduate student in the department of psychology and worked his way up from faculty member to chair of the department of psychology, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Yale College, and then provost of the university before being appointed president in 2013.

“Every role I have held at Yale prior to the presidency … only deepened my appreciation for our faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as my love for this institution,” Salovey said.

In his own message, Senior Trustee of the Yale Corporation Josh Bekenstein praised Salovey’s time in office on behalf of the university’s trustees.

“I can attest to our admiration of President Salovey’s bold vision for Yale, collaborative leadership style, and commitment to creating a culture that celebrates our diversity and fosters belonging and inclusion,” he said. “We respect his decision and applaud him for choosing a time for leadership transition when the university is in such a strong position financially, academically, and strategically.”

Additionally, Bekenstein will lead the search committee for the new president, which is currently seeking nominations for faculty members to serve on the committee.