Graduate School's new deputy dean and its dean: Ellen Ryerson and Susan Hockfield.

Array of appointments announced at Graduate School

As the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences starts its new year, Dean Susan Hockfield has announced a number of administrative changes and appointments designed to help the school better serve its over 2,200 students. Chief among these changes is the reorganization of the Dean's Office, including the creation of the new post of deputy dean and the appointment of the post's incumbent. There have also been important appointments in the school's Graduate Career Services, Teaching Fellow Program and Registrar's offices. Dean's Office Ellen Ryerson, associate dean for academic affairs at New York Law School, will hold the newly created position of deputy dean of the Graduate School. Ryerson is no stranger to Yale. She earned a Ph.D. in history at the Graduate School and, after teaching American studies at Amherst College, returned to Yale to serve as associate provost of the University. In that post, she was responsible for all the departments in the humanitie as well as Yale College and the Graduate School. She subsequently earned a J.D. at the Yale Law School and went on to posts in legal education. "Ms. Ryerson is keenly interested in arts and science education and very knowledgeable about Yale," says Hockfield. "I am confident that her presence will contribute a great deal to realizing our ambitions for the Graduate School." The reorganization of the Dean's Office was prompted, in part, by the departure of two of the school's three associate deans -- Deborah Thomas, who will work with the President's and Secretary's offices in Woodbridge Hall, and Andrew Moore, who has accepted the deanship of the College of Liberal Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology. After reviewing the responsibilities of the Dean's Office in the wake of these departures, Hockfield decided to replace the three associate deanships with two associate deans and two assistant deans. Having two associate deans, explained Hockfield in her announcement, reflects the current makeup of the Graduate School's student body, which has "a fairly even distribution of students and programs between the sciences, on the one hand, and the humanities and social sciences on the other." Each associate dean will be aided by an assistant dean -- thereby freeing the associate deans to work more closely with the faculty and students on academic issues, said Hockfield. Richard Sleight will continue to serve as associate dean for the sciences, while Pamela Schirmeister will join the Graduate School as associate dean for the humanities and social sciences. A scholar and teacher of American literature, Schirmeister has extensive experience as an academic administrator, chiefly at New York University, where she has been on the faculty since 1991. She holds B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale. The assistant deans, who have yet to be named, will work primarily to administer and expand external fellowship programs, prepare and analyze statistical reports concerning academic affairs, and ensure continuance of general administrative functions in the absence of the associate deans. They will also assist with the admissions process. Graduate Career Services This summer also saw the appointment of Mary Dillon Johnson as the new director of Graduate Career Services. Dillon brings with her an array of professional experiences, including university fundraising and public relations for nonprofit organizations (including Yale), professional writing and editing, and career counseling at Harvard University, where she worked almost exclusively with graduate students and developed many of their current programs. She comes to Yale from her post as director of development for the Connecticut Food Bank. Under her leadership, Graduate Career Services will provide career counseling and workshops for current students and postdoctoral fellows, and will actively encourage alumni to participate in programs as career advisers. Teaching Fellow Program The Graduate School's Teaching Fellow Program will also be under new leadership this year, with the appointment of Judith Dozier Hackman as director. Hackman comes to the Graduate School from her current -- and continuing -- role as associate dean of Yale College. She has held administrative posts at Yale since 1971, when she joined the Office of Institutional Research, eventually serving as its director for five years. In 1987, Hackman became associate dean in Yale College and, beginning in 1995, was director of corporate and foundation relations and assistant to the provost for three years. She has been president of both the Association for the Study of Higher Education and the North East Association for Institutional Research. She was for several years Yale's liaison officer to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and a board member of the New England Consortium of Undergraduate Science Education. Registrar Marge Mattson joined the Yale Registrar's Office in June to serve as associate registrar, with major focus on the Graduate School, its students, faculty and administrative offices. Mattson served over 11 years in the Office of Undergraduate Career Services, first as assistant director and ultimately as associate director. There, she worked primarily with international students matriculating in Yale College and students participating in the Junior Year Abroad program. To increase the convenience of the Registrar's Office for graduate students, Mattson's office will be in the Hall of Graduate Studies, Rm. 142. Association of Yale Alumni Julia Downs has been named associate director for graduate school alumni relations in the Association of Yale Alumni. Prior to her recent appointment, Downs worked at Yale for almost 10 years at the Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy, where she had many opportunities to work with graduate students. T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S Study finds undercurrent of anger in U.S. workplaces Translating Shakespeare into sign language was a lesson in the art of communication 'Alternative' therapies not favored over conventional medical care, says survey Robert Blocker to continue as dean of the School of Music Mary E. 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