Yale SOM Names New Dean, Economist Kerwin Charles
Yale University has tapped University of Chicago economist Kerwin Charles as the next Indra K. Nooyi Dean of the Yale School of Management, effective July 1, 2019.
Charles, the first dean of color at the SOM, succeeds one of the most popular and successful b-school deans of his generation.
University President Peter Salovey’s announcement comes almost exactly a year after SOM Dean Edward Snyder revealed that he would step down this summer at the end of his eight-year tenure.
“I am confident that Professor Charles, a renowned economist and award-winning educator, will advance SOM’s role as a global center for the study of business and prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities of a complex interconnected world,” Salovey said.
Charles earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He later joined the University of Michigan as a faculty member in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Department of Economics. In 2005, he moved to the University of Chicago and its Harris School.
Indra Nooyi noted in the announcement that Charles understands the core beliefs of the SOM community. Namely, that businesses can accomplish more through understanding the intersection points between business and society.
She said Charles’ research interests in labor economics; economic inequality; and racial and gender discrimination demonstrate his willingness to take on the “most daunting and meaningful challenges.”
In an email to the Yale Daily News, Snyder also expressed his delight in Salovey’s announcement and added that Kerwin Charles will have “a profound impact on SOM, the Yale community and beyond.”
When Charles assumes the deanship in July, Snyder will return to full-time teaching and research at the School of Management.
