Yale Daily News

Updated: Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:35 p.m.

A A A

MARY MILLER TO BE NAMED DEAN TODAY

Staff Reporter
Published Friday, October 10, 2008

Mary E. Miller GRD '81, the Sterling Professor of the History of Art and master of Saybrook College, will be named the dean of Yale College today, the News has learned.

A ceremony is scheduled this afternoon in Luce Hall. The new dean will succeed Peter Salovey, who assumed the provostship on Oct. 1.

In a brief conversation at the Saybrook Master's House this morning, Miller, 55, would not confirm or deny that she had been selected for the deanship. University President Richard Levin did not immediately return a telephone message.

The selection process has been...

#1 By Max S. 12:38p.m. on October 10, 2008

This is great news for Yale. Master Miller was a terrific leader of Saybrook; she will no doubt be the same for all the College.

#2 By Max S. 1:51p.m. on October 10, 2008

I was kind of hoping it would be Meg Urry. I wanted somebody in the sciences. That would be better for Yale in the long term.

#3 By Reuben B. 2:15p.m. on October 10, 2008

It's Miller Time!

#4 By Reuben B. 2:45p.m. on October 10, 2008

I am so glad that my university has chosen a dean with a background in what is literally the most useless academic field imaginable

#5 By Reuben B. 3:38p.m. on October 10, 2008

Great news. I am so happy for Yale College. Mary is magnificent

#6 By CC '10 5:25p.m. on October 10, 2008

Great choice! Salovey's a difficult act to follow, though.

#7 By (Anonymous) 5:45p.m. on October 10, 2008

"I am so glad that my university has chosen a dean with a background in what is literally the most useless academic field imaginable"

are you serious???

#8 By Hieronymus 6:07p.m. on October 10, 2008

I take STRONG offense with #4's comments: CERTAINLY lit crit is even more useless, and so is sociology (at least at Yale). Same for DIV (again, at least at Yale). Stop spouting inanities!

Plus, I like Mary Miller.

#9 By Dara L. 8:04p.m. on October 10, 2008

To #7: I doubt s/he is. Probably just clever, by self-definition if not in act.

But, seriously, great pick. It's an important affirmation, also, as Yale increases attention on the sciences (though hopefully over the years math/physical sciences receive the same attention as biology and biochemistry) that it have someone as its academic head who is at the pinnacle of the humanities.

Picking someone with a history of interdisciplianary work and understanding — her work with Latin American Studies — is especially laudable.

Mazel Tov!

#10 By Saal 10:27p.m. on October 10, 2008

@#8

Yes, sociology, absolutely useless! Dean of Undergraduate College will never, not once, have to deal with issues of race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, or age, and their mixing, at all. They will never have to deal with the intermingling of different cultures, nor dealing with group dynamics and how they interact and how it affects them best. Nope, never, completely out of the Job descriptions for a Dean of a large, Prestigious University.

...You were saying?

#11 By (Anonymous) 1:02a.m. on October 11, 2008

Does this mean that now Dean Miller walk around Cross Campus telling students not to talk on their cell phones the same way she did in the PUBLIC Saybrook courtyard?

#12 By Levin has zero credibility 5:46a.m. on October 11, 2008

Levin was not serious about his commitment to diversity. He has zero credibility in my book.

#13 By Concerned Citizen for Truth 1:43p.m. on October 11, 2008

@#12 -

We know it's you, Holloway...

#14 By Anonymous 3:35p.m. on October 11, 2008

This is an unbelievably stupid decision. Mary Miller is the most socially awkward person on the planet. Her job is to interact with and understand student concerns. Mismatch?

#15 By George P. 6:22p.m. on October 11, 2008

Right, who cares who is most qualified for the job. Skin color is the most important attribute.

#16 By Haydon 5:42a.m. on October 12, 2008

In response to #12, perhaps President Levin is simply committed to *excellence*, to appointing the best-qualified and most-esteemed person to the position of Dean, whatever their ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation (none of which strike me as particularly relevant criteria for choosing a Dean).

#17 By Tinfoil Jim 2:18p.m. on October 14, 2008

No matter what, we'll see the new improved Mary Miller. She'll toe the Yale Corporation line and prepare to move on to another University. Yale Deans are hive members slowly taking over the academic world one president post at a time. Resistance is futile.

#18 By Confused 6:21p.m. on October 14, 2008

To #9: Is there any confusion as to her gender here since you referred to her as "s/he"? I had no idea that she has some gender identity issue.

Sorry, but comments are disabled for this article.