New $50 Million Initiative at Yale University Will Build On Faculty Diversity and Excellence in School of Nursing

A new $50 million initiative to build on the excellence and diversity of the faculty at Yale University was announced last fall. The initiative, backed by the Provost’s Faculty Development Fund, will provide up to half of the salary for three years to support faculty who enrich diversity or an aspect of strategic importance at Yale.

Provost Ben Polak and Professor Richard Bribiescas, deputy provost for faculty development and diversity, have provided a recent update on the ongoing initiative. The inaugural year of the initiative supported 26 faculty members and a number of schools at Yale including Nursing and Public Health amongst several other fields of study.

Yale’s goal for the initiative is to recruit and retain the best faculty and several deans at the university have already said that the initiative significantly contributed to their recruiting efforts over the past year. Ann Kurth, Dean of the Yale School of Nursing (YSN), wants to develop a nursing faculty with a range of diversity and expertise. YSN believes that a diverse and inclusive faculty is the answer to a strong and productive culture in its school and a healthier society overall.

The Diversity and Excellence Initiative will also expand beyond faculty recruiting to support a diverse student body. A new Dean’s Emerging Scholars Program will select 15 incoming PhD students as Emerging Scholars Fellows and 10 PhD students to receive Emerging Scholars Research Awards. Yale will also be launching a new faculty program, Diversity & Education Series: Inclusive Pedagogy in Action, which promotes inclusive teaching.