News & Announcements
Below you will find news stories from the Graduate School, as well as important messages for our community.
Stay in the know
‘Changing our world’: Conversations with women in data science
| In a Q&A, Yale PhD student Ruixiao Wang (Statistics & Data Science) discusses a campus colloquium series she organized that aims to bring Yale alumnae who are prominent data scientists — including Columbia’s Cynthia Rush (’16 PhD, Statistics) and AT&T’s Elena Khusainova (’20 PhD, Statistics & Data Science) — in conversation with students.
Four Graduate School alumni awarded 2024 Wilbur Cross Medals
| Four alumni of the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) will be honored with Wilbur Cross Medals in recognition of their exceptional scholarship, teaching, and public service. The awards are the highest honor the school bestows on alumni. This year’s honorees include the James Scott (’67 PhD, Political Science), Anne Ferguson-Smith (’86 PhD, Biology), John Guillory (’79 PhD, English Language and Literature), and Kai Li (’86 PhD, Computer Science).
NHHI Spotlight -Lisbeth Chamba, Accounting & Financial Aid Advisor
| The Graduate School's newest staff member, Lisbeth Chamba, was recently featured by the New Haven Hiring Initiative. Lisbeth was born and raised in New Haven, CT, and is a New Haven Promise Scholar and a proud first-generation college graduate.
Expectations for faculty and teaching fellows
| This message outlines the responsibilities that all faculty members and Teaching Fellows (TFs), now part of the Local 33-UNITE HERE union, are expected to fulfill when they collaborate to teach. This memo contains new information as of September 2024; please read through the materials below so you are aware of current policies. You will find details on (1) in-person instruction, (2) responsibility for instruction, (3) course materials, (4) grading and examinations, and (5) professional development for TFs; there is also information about (6) part-time acting instructors.
Welcoming in the 2024-25 Academic Year
| As we start a new academic year, it is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to continuing and new students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Yale is a special place to pursue graduate education, offering you exceptional faculty, collections, and facilities to develop your intellectual pursuits. Yale graduate students are scholars in training of the highest caliber – you will produce unique discoveries and have innovative ideas to improve the world.
Philosophy and Black Studies pioneer Robert Gooding-Williams returning to Yale to foster a new generation of scholars
| Gooding-Williams, who was an undergraduate (’75) and PhD (’82) student at Yale, joins the Department of Philosophy as Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Philosophy.
Collections in the Classroom: Students in a new certificate program share what they’ve discovered
| Yale University’s new graduate certificate program—Material Histories of the Human Record—opens up the classroom walls and invites students into Yale Library Special Collections.
‘This shared community’: McInnis welcomes Yale’s newest students
| In her first formal addresses as Yale’s President, Maurie McInnis addressed students entering Yale College and the Graduate School.
House call: A new study rethinks early Christian landmark
| An ancient building in modern day Syria has long been considered an example of what is known as a domestic “house church.” But a new study challenges this idea. A careful comparison of the building’s later architectural features with those of other domestic structures in Dura-Europos — and an analysis of the way renovations impacted natural light flow within the building — provide considerable evidence that it was not a house church at all, said Camille Leon Angelo, a PhD candidate in Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and one of the researchers.
Three Yale students named 2024 Quad Fellows in STEM fields
| This year’s Quad Fellows, a scholarship program that sponsors master’s and doctoral students in STEM fields, includes a trio of Yalies.
Kyrillos Abdallah (’27 PhD, MB&B) Awarded Prestigious HHMI Gilliam Fellowship
| The Graduate School is proud to announce that Kyrillos Abdallah, a PhD candidate in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, has been selected as a recipient of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship. This fellowship recognizes exceptional achievements in scientific research and acknowledges student potential as a future leader in their respective field. Abdallah has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to scientific integrity and excellence, as well as dedication to improving the scientific community.
What shapes a virus’s pandemic potential? SARS-CoV-2 relatives yield clues
| Two close relatives of SARS-CoV-2 have reduced transmission potential, a new study finds. Understanding why could help identify future pandemic threats. Mario Peña-Hernández, a Yale PhD student in the labs of Akiko Iwasaki and Craig Wilen, is lead author of the study.
A new explanation for Jupiter’s great, shrinking ‘Spot’
| A steady diet of smaller storms may be what fuels Jupiter’s Great Red Spot — and a decline in small storms may be causing it to shrink. Caleb Keaveney, a PhD student in Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and lead author of a new study in the journal Icarus, and his co-authors focused on the influence of smaller, transient storms on the Great Red Spot.
More than 1 trillion microbes live inside the average tree trunk
| The wood inside the average tree might seem barren, but it’s home to an incredibly diverse array of life. According to a new study by Yale PhD students Jonathan Gewirtzman and Wyatt Arnold, more than 1 trillion fungi, bacteria, and other microbes live inside the average trunk, according to the most comprehensive survey yet conducted, comprising unique communities specialized to various tree species.
In memoriam: Jerome Pollitt, erudite scholar, admired teacher, university citizen
| Jerome Pollitt ‘57, a distinguished historian of Greek art and archaeology, who made ancient artifacts come alive by weaving them into their historical and literary contexts, died on April 24 after a long illness. He was 89.
Immunobiology PhD student, Kenneth Zhou, receives F31 funding
| Kenneth Zhou, an Immunobiology graduate student in the Wang Lab, has been awarded the prestigious Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Awards (F31) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). F31 funding awards from the NIH are designed to help promising predoctoral students develop into productive, independent research scientists through mentored research training while conducting dissertation research.
Celebrating the Graduate School's Class of 2024!
| The Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) proudly celebrated its Class of 2024 at a memorable Commencement Ceremony held on May 20th. This year, the Graduate School awarded a total of 1,430 degrees, comprising 217 Master of Arts (MA), 378 Master of Science (MS), 416 Master of Philosophy (MPhil), and 419 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees.
Reflecting on the Purpose of Graduate Education
| Read Dean Cooley's message to the community at the close of the 2023-24 academic year.
Aishwarya Iyer ('24 PhD) Focuses on Underrepresented Voices in Energy Usage
| When Aishwarya Iyer ’24 PhD was in the eighth grade in Maharashtra, India, she performed a home energy audit for a science competition that involved assessing residents’ energy usage and making suggestions for maximizing energy efficiency. This was the first time Iyer had delved into the broader environmental impacts of residents’ choices about energy use and she was struck by how small adjustments could avert carbon emissions.
10 PhD Students Named 2023-24 Prize Teaching Fellows
| Ten PhD students from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) have been named Prize Teaching Fellows for the 2023-2024 academic year: Camille Angelo (Religious Studies), Carissa Chan (Microbiology), Grayson Hoy (Chemistry), Nghiem Huynh (Economics), Kimberly Lifton (Medieval Studies), Benjamin Schafer (History), Jillian Stallman (Economics), Audrey Tjahjadi (Anthropology), Alexa Williams (Chemistry), and Novak Yang (Immunobiology).
Amos Espinosa Wins American Society of Hematology Minority Hematology Graduate Award
| Amos S. Espinosa, a PhD Candidate in Experimental Pathology, was recently named a winner of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Minority Hematology Graduate Award (MHGA). Amos is a member of the Krause Lab and a Medical Research Scholar.
Pandemic proved to be a revelatory time for PhD student
| Shannon Whittaker, who is graduating from the Yale School of Public Health this spring with a PhD in social and behavioral sciences and public health, started her dissertation while COVID-19 had shut down most of the world. She calls it the most revelatory point of her time at YSPH. It was as much a self-revelation as a scholarly one.
Four faculty members honored for commitment to graduate student mentorship
| Sreeganga Chandra, Jennifer Allen, Marynel Vázquez, and Grace Kao were recognized with Graduate Mentor Awards from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Five Things to Know About… the Three-Minute Thesis Competition
| The annual competition allows Ph.D. students an opportunity to hone their public speaking skills — and better understand their research.
Two Yale students named 2024 Soros Fellows
| Yale Ph.D. student Kristine Guillaume and incoming Yale Law School student Ananya Agustin Malhotra are among this year’s Soros fellows.
From Prospect Street to the ‘path of totality,’ Yalies have eclipse covered
| Next week, when a total solar eclipse traces a narrow path across the United States, Christopher Lindsay, a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in astronomy and Gruber Science Fellow in Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, won’t be chasing its “path of totality.” He’ll follow another lofty calling instead — helping to conduct a scientific symphony of telescopes, sunspotters, pinhole projectors, and kitchen colanders at a public viewing event at Yale’s Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium.
Lynn Cooley reappointed dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
| Lynn Cooley, the C. N. H. Long Professor of Genetics and Professor of Cell Biology and of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, has been reappointed to a third term as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), Yale President Peter Salovey announced this week. Her third five-year term will begin July 1.
With teaching program, students put a new spin on music education
| A power trio of new undergraduate courses — on modern opera, heavy metal, and Latin jazz — demonstrates how Yale’s Associates in Teaching program helps faculty members and PhD students partner to fine-tune their teaching chops.
Five Things to Know About… Sylvia Ryerson’s ‘Calls from Home’
| A graduate student’s film examines a radio station that broadcasts messages of support to incarcerated people across Appalachia — and takes aim at mass incarceration.
Yale chemists synthesize unique anticancer molecules using novel approach
| Yale researchers have developed a novel approach to synthesize a highly complex group of molecules found in marine invertebrates. A team of Yale chemists, writing in the journal Science, has succeeded in synthesizing eight of the compounds for the first time using an approach that combines inventive chemical strategy with the latest technology in small molecule structure determination. Co-first authors of the new study are Yale chemistry graduate students Brandon Alexander and Noah Bartfield.
For women in prison, degree program creates new life pathways
| A Yale and University of New Haven collaboration offers the only four-year college degree program at any federal prison for women in the United States. Student teachers from the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offer courses through a professional development opportunity.
Introducing Emotional Wellbeing Solutions
| Eligible Local 33 graduate workers pursuing PhD degrees, their spouses, dependents, and household members are now eligible for up to six free counseling sessions provided through Optum Emotional Wellbeing Solutions.
Environmental Humanities highlights importance of interdisciplinary studies in welcome back panel
| The Yale Environmental Humanities program hosted a panel with graduate students and a faculty member who presented their projects; they each highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to studying the environment.
Budding political scientists find their niche
| For students considering a Ph.D. in political science, a new Yale graduate fellowship program offers practical guidance and a meaningful confidence boost through faculty mentorship, educational workshops, and peer networking.
Updates to PhD Student Support
| Read Dean Cooley's message regarding increased compensation and benefits for PhD students.
Four graduate alumni receive 2023 Wilbur Cross Medals
| The award honors alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for exceptional work in scholarship, public service, teaching, or academic administration.
Reaching across the centuries, these seminal science books speak volumes
| At a recent “pop-up” exhibit, Yale physics students took a closer look at more than a dozen trailblazing tomes by Galileo, Newton, Kepler, and others.
PhD Candidate Rebecca Kuang (East Asian Languages & Literatures) named one of Time Magazine’s “TIME100 Next"
| Rebecca Kuang, a PhD candidate in Yale’s Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, was recently named one of Time Magazine’s “TIME100 Next,” a list that recognizes rising leaders across a host of professions.
Mental Health Awareness Week at the Graduate School
| Read Dean Cooley's message about Mental Health Awareness Week that features mental health resources on campus.
A Warm Welcome to the New Academic Year
| Read Dean Cooley's start of semester message to the GSAS community.
Two Yale PhD Students Awarded Prestigious HHMI Gilliam Fellowships
| Two PhD students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences have been selected as recipients of the esteemed Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowships. This distinction recognizes exceptional achievements in scientific research and acknowledges student potential as future leaders in their respective fields.
Cost-of-living stipend increases and student funding enhancements
| Update on graduate student support: cost-of-living stipend increases for all graduate students; expansion of the Dean’s Emergency Fund to include medical leave hardship awards; increases to the family subsidy and GSA Conference Travel Fellowship budgets.
Graduate student financial well-being
| My years in academia have taught me to greet every autumn with a special sense of expectation and excitement. This fall semester feels especially joyful as our beautiful Yale campus comes alive again after the disruptions and uncertainties of the past eighteen pandemic months.
Sharing the Report of the Humanities Doctoral Education Advisory Working Group
| One of Yale’s principal areas of excellence is humanistic study at all levels, and as Dean of the Graduate School, I am honored to support that tradition through the training of doctoral students. The humanities are vital to our mission to improve the world today and for future generations.
Funding extensions for FAS PhD students
| I hope this message finds you as well as can be in the midst of the abrupt changes to our lives caused by the pandemic. I have heard from many of you about the impact of COVID-19 on your work, including the closure of libraries, collections and laboratories on our campus, suspension of travel for field work, and concern about family members. I have received many requests for extensions of funding to replace lost time since we closed in March. I am glad to be able to share our current plan for extensions to assist you in resuming your progress toward the goals you came to Yale to accomplish.