March 31, 2023

Dear colleagues,

I write today with exciting news of some new organizational structures and responsibilities in Yale College. The goal of these changes is to provide a more flexible and responsive organizational structure and to acknowledge the leadership of dedicated staff members who play a key role in serving the College’s mission.

Deputy Dean of Yale College and Dean of Undergraduate Education

Pamela Schirmeister, Dean of Undergraduate Education, will also become Deputy Dean of Yale College. Pam already serves as Deputy Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the steering committees of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Her new title recognizes her critical role in delivering the best possible undergraduate education within Yale College's curriculum of arts, sciences, and engineering. In this new capacity, Pam will continue to oversee undergraduate education, Yale College arts, and science education. Beginning in June, she will also oversee academic affairs, summer programs, and study abroad.

With 23 years of experience at Yale, Pam has been involved in all aspects of the academic program. A graduate of Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, she holds a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature and taught English literature for ten years at Middlebury and at New York University before returning to Yale where, in addition to her work as dean, she taught in Directed Studies, English, and Comparative Literature for 11 years. She is the author of The Consolations of Space: the Place of Romance in Hawthorne, Melville and James and Less Legible Meanings: Between Poetry and Philosophy in the Work of Emerson (Stanford University Press, 1990, 1999).

I am grateful to George Levesque, Associate Dean and Dean for Academic Programs, who has agreed to oversee academic affairs for the next few months during this period of transition. In this role, George will continue to report to Pam, as he does currently. I will be consulting with staff and faculty in the coming months on broader reorganization of the departments of undergraduate education and academic affairs. George, who holds a Ph.D. in History and Education from Columbia University, has served at Yale for nearly 30 years, including as Dean of Berkeley College and Dean of Freshman Affairs, and Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs.

Dean of Students

Melanie Boyd, Dean of Student Affairs, will become Dean of Students. The new title reflects her college-wide responsibilities for the well-being of our student body. In addition to student organizations, student conduct, gender and campus culture, and the YC3 program, Melanie helps coordinate services in support of residential college life, including working with the new housing office, and, in partnership with Undergraduate Education co-supervises the residential college deans.

A Yale College graduate who earned her Ph.D. in English and Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Michigan, Melanie has served for over 15 years in roles of increasing responsibility in Yale College, including as a lecturer and DUS in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and as the founding director of the Office of Gender and Campus Culture.

Dean of Student Engagement and Associate Vice President Burgwell Howard will continue to report jointly to me and Vice President for University Life Kimberly Goff-Crews.

Office of Career Strategy and Fellowships

Jeanine Dames, Associate Dean and Director of the Office for Career Strategy, will now also oversee the fellowships office beginning June 1. These two offices already work closely together to help students prepare for life after Yale. Jeanine will report directly to me and will join the Yale College senior management team.

Jeanine has served for over 15 years at Yale, with responsibility for career strategy at different times in the School of Management, the Graduate School, and the Law School. For the past ten years, she has led the Office of Career Strategy, which serves graduate students as well as undergraduates. Jeanine is a graduate of Cornell University and Fordham Law School, and practiced environmental and real estate law before returning to academic service.

Operations

Marisa Figueira will be joining Yale College as Director of Operations. Reporting to Mary Magri, Senior Director for Financial Operations, Marisa will coordinate operational efforts across the College, including in the residential colleges and in the departments of student affairs and engagement. Marisa will serve on the senior management team and will be the College’s main interface with hospitality, facilities, and other university-wide operational functions. She will take over some of the responsibilities of Senior Director of Business Operations Cathy Vellucci, including the joint supervision, together with the heads of college, of the residential college Operations Managers. Cathy is retiring after 45 years of outstanding service to Yale.

Marisa comes to us from Human Resources, where she is currently Director of Employee Relations. A graduate of Rutgers University and the University of New Haven, Marisa previously served in various roles in Human Resources at Yale, including Diversity Coordinator in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.  We are very fortunate to have her join us.

Senior Executive Assistant

Finally, I am delighted to announce the appointment of Kathleen Sherrill as Senior Executive Assistant in my office. Kathleen comes to us from the provost's office, where she demonstrated outstanding organizational skills that will serve Yale College well. A graduate of Bucknell University, Kathleen joined Yale in 2012 as Senior Executive Assistant to the Dean of the Yale School of Management. More recently, she has served as Senior Executive Assistant to several vice provosts (including, from 2017 to 2020, yours truly)

Ongoing Hiring

The College is in the midst of searches for three important positions: The Dean of Summer Programs, the successor to Jeanne Follansbee, who will report to Dean Schirmeister; the Director of Fellowships, the successor to Rebekah Westphal, who will report to Associate Dean Dames; and a new position, the Associate Dean of Students, who will report to Dean Boyd and will work closely with the residential college deans to strengthen the residential colleges and to provide support in emergencies.

I have met with the leadership team of the Center for International and Professional Experience as well as the residential college deans to discuss some of these changes, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss them with other staff groups or at our next all staff meeting, on June 6. This is a time of considerable change in Yale College, and my goal is for the new organizational structures—and the outstanding people taking on these responsibilities—to strengthen our community of learning, in both the academic and student life domains. I would like to thank all those who have given me input on these organizational developments. Please join me in congratulating Melanie Boyd, Jeanine Dames, Marisa Figueira, George Levesque, Pam Schirmeister, and Kathleen Sherrill and in thanking them for taking on these important responsibilities.

Sincerely,

Pericles Lewis
Dean of Yale College
Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature
Professor of English