 | Richard H. Brodhead |
Richard H. Brodhead will step down this June as dean of Yale College and the A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of English to become Duke University's ninth president.
Brodhead will succeed Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane '84 M.A., '87 Ph.D., who is returning to teaching and research after 11 years in the post. He will assume the Duke presidency on July 1.
"Dick Brodhead is one of the finest educators of his generation and one of the greatest deans in Yale's 300-year history," said President Richard C. Levin. "It is difficult to imagine Yale without him. Duke's students, faculty and alumni will find him an inspiration."
Kurt Schmoke '71 B.A., former senior fellow of the Yale Corporation and dean of the Howard Law School, said, "Dean Brodhead is not only admired by students, faculty and alumni; he is loved. He is a great educator and leader, and Duke is fortunate to have attracted him as president."
Brodhead has been dean of Yale College since 1993. He holds three Yale degrees -- a B.A. (1968), M.A. (1970) and Ph.D. (1972) -- and was the first Yale graduate in more than two decades to be named to the deanship. Only two other deans in Yale's 302-year history have held the post longer. During his tenure as dean, Brodhead has played a major role in extending undergraduate admissions and need-based financial aid to students from other countries. He recently led the first major review of Yale College in 30 years.
Of his future role as Duke's president, Brodhead said, ""I am tremendously excited to join a university that has already established itself in the top rank of institutions, yet is still so up-and-coming. ... If I can be a part of making a very good university even better, it will be a great satisfaction."
Peter. M. Nicholas, chair of Duke's board of trustees, called Brodhead "the ideal person" to lead Duke into the next stage of its history. "Duke's trustees are confident that the qualities that have led Dick Brodhead to be so revered in New Haven will also serve him well as our next president," he said.
Brodhead is the author or editor of more than a dozen books on Hawthorne, Melville, Faulkner and other American authors. In 1993, Duke University Press published two books Brodhead edited on Charles W. Chestnutt, a leading African-American author of the post-Civil War generation. Brodhead's pioneering edition of Chestnutt's diaries led him to do substantial work on the history of North Carolina in the post-emancipation period. His many essays and lectures examine subjects ranging from multiculturalism to the role of education in a democratic society to the globalization of comparative literature.
After earning his doctorate, Brodhead joined the Yale faculty as an assistant professor of English, and five years later he received the prestigious William Clyde DeVane Medal for Outstanding Scholarship and Teaching from the Yale Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. He was appointed professor of English in 1985, the Bird White Housum Professor of English in 1990 and the A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of English in 1995.
Brodhead has taught or lectured widely in both the United States and throughout the world. He was a visiting professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1989 and 1991. He served on the faculty of the Yale-New Haven Teachers' Institute, and taught high school teachers from around the country for eight summers at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. In 1998, Middlebury awarded Brodhead its Bicentennial Medal.
The Yale alumnus has won several scholarly honors and fellowships, including Guggenheim, Woodrow Wilson, Danforth and Morse fellowships. His most recent honor is a presidential appointment in 2002 to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
In a letter to his Yale colleagues announcing his decision to accept the new post, Brodhead wrote: "It has been a continual pleasure to work toward important goals with people of such high quality, and I'm profoundly grateful for the friendships that have grown so deep through the years. But I'm always urging students to explore new things and take on new challenges, and it occurs to me that this is a splendid chance to take my own advice!"
Former provost Alison Richard, who left Yale in 2002 to become vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, said, "If Dick is to leave Yale, then my only regret is that he's not headed here because he is one of the most exceptional people I've had the pleasure and privilege to work with. Duke's good fortune is immense, and I am certain that Dick and Duke will flourish together."
T H I S
Yale College Dean Brodhead
named president of Duke
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Yale College Dean Brodhead named president of Duke
Four new associate v.p.'s announced
Grant to help preserve composers' voices as 'national treasures'
Club members are 'hooked' on tango
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPSHare is appointed Noah Porter Professor
Jones is designated Titus Street Professor
Morris is named Ford Foundation Professor
Scientist's paper on human genetics cited as the best of the year
Pianist wins Grammy Award nomination
Yale Rep, Moscow troupe bring Chekhov story to the stage
Peabody festival pays tribute to Martin Luther King
Researchers find T cells and natural killer cells cause of skin allergies
Researchers develop new way to produce artificial skin for grafts
Wisdom is the only antidote for hate, according to Yale psychologist
Works capture the beauty of Brazil's 'gems'
JE to host exhibit of works by Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg
Noted statesman will deliver Walker Lecture
Symposium will celebrate architect Kahn's legacy
Event to focus on use of neuroimaging in study of alcoholism
Stern among Yale alumni honored by Architectural Digest
Former Medical School Dean Dr. Fritz Redlich dies at age 93
Projects win support to preserve endangered languages
Concert will feature performances by celebrated pianist and violinist
Yale Books in Brief
Campus Notes
Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News
Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines
Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home