We write to announce the appointment of Steven Wilkinson, the Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies and professor of political science and international affairs, as the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), effective January 1, 2025.
Steven has been an engaged leader within the FAS and the university more broadly for over fifteen years. Over that time, he has worked closely with faculty members, department chairs, divisional deans in the FAS, and other faculty and administrative leaders across campus. A former deputy chair of the FAS-SEAS Faculty Senate, Steven has a deep appreciation for the central role faculty members play in shaping the educational and research missions of the FAS, defining Yale’s strengths, and setting the university’s future. He has developed a keen understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing tenured, tenure-track, and instructional faculty across divisions and is well equipped to lead the FAS into the future.
Steven currently serves as the vice provost for global strategy and the Henry R. Luce Director of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International Affairs, where he leads efforts to promote scholarship and engagement on regional and global issues, support international student projects, and build a scholarly community of 375 affiliated faculty. Previously, he served as the acting dean of the Division of Social Science and chair of the Department of Political Science. The Office of the Provost will soon announce processes to identify the next vice provost for global strategy and the next Henry R. Luce Director of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International Affairs.
As vice provost, Steven chaired a faculty committee that ensured continuity of Yale’s international research during the height of the COVID pandemic. He also has led efforts to expand Yale’s Scholars at Risk program and improve the efficiency with which the university supports international research and collaborations. The breadth of his experiences underscores his ability to lead a range of teams and create and implement strategic priorities for the university.
In addition to his leadership contributions, Steven has built a career characterized by a dedication to excellence in research and scholarship over the past twenty-five years. His own work on South Asia is interdisciplinary, and combines archival research, field research, interviews, and quantitative data to answer larger questions in comparative politics, civil-military relations, and ethnic politics. His most notable publications include Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India, which won the American Political Science Association Best Book Award; Patrons, Clients and Policies (edited with Herbert Kitschelt), which examines vote buying in politics across the world; and Army and Nation: India’s Military and Democracy since Independence, which has had a significant impact on policy debates in South Asia as well as in political science. His academic contributions have meaningfully influenced the fields of political science and South Asian studies and have been recognized in many ways, including through his election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
A committed educator and mentor, Steven has influenced the career trajectory of scores of students and early-career scholars. He remains in contact with many of his former undergraduate and senior thesis advisees from Yale. His former Ph.D. students now teach in top research universities and liberal arts colleges in the United States, Canada, and South Asia, and they speak warmly of his encouragement and advice throughout their careers. Much of his administrative effort at Yale, especially in his role as director of MacMillan, has been dedicated to enriching teaching and scholarship in our community through improving the ability of our students and faculty to travel internationally to learn other cultures and languages and by bringing visitors from around the world to Yale.
Steven’s focus on academic excellence is matched by his commitment to service. His involvement in university committees has addressed critical issues such as the formation of the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, the Belonging initiative, faculty support and mentoring, risk assessment, international education, and gifts and grants. He also has been sought out by other leading research universities for his expertise in evaluating their international initiatives, research, and teaching. As he works with other institutions, he is constantly seeking best practices that he can bring to Yale.
In partnership with FAS faculty, next academic year, Steven will lead a strategic planning process to build a dynamic and collaborative environment where teaching, research, and scholarship flourish. Drawing on his own interdisciplinary work, he is aware of both the value of deep disciplinary knowledge and the opportunities that new collaborations across fields can bring, to advance their momentum and strengthen the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. By supporting faculty and fostering a vibrant academic culture, Steven will ensure faculty and students can address some of the most pressing challenges of our time and expand the frontiers of knowledge.
We thank all of you who submitted nominations and provided suggestions regarding strategic opportunities and challenges for the FAS. Your comments and ideas for the future of FAS informed both the committee’s recommendations and our decision. We also are grateful to the members of the search advisory committee, chaired by Professor Marvin Chun, for the time and energy they dedicated to this search, where they sought the views of the FAS community during dozens of listening sessions, meetings, and interviews, and provided thoughtful feedback and recommendations to us. The search advisory committee expressed appreciation for Steven’s track record of collaborative, inclusive, and consultative leadership; influential scholarship; commitment to teaching; and ability to streamline administrative operations to support faculty and students.
Please join us in congratulating Steven on his new role. We know he appreciates deeply the opportunity to work with you to foster an exceptional educational and intellectual community, enhance faculty support and collaborations across disciplines, and chart a bold course for the future of the FAS.
Sincerely,
Maurie McInnis
President
Professor of the History of Art
Scott Strobel
Provost
Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Dear Members of the Yale Community,
We write to announce the appointment of Steven Wilkinson, the Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies and professor of political science and international affairs, as the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), effective January 1, 2025.
Steven has been an engaged leader within the FAS and the university more broadly for over fifteen years. Over that time, he has worked closely with faculty members, department chairs, divisional deans in the FAS, and other faculty and administrative leaders across campus. A former deputy chair of the FAS-SEAS Faculty Senate, Steven has a deep appreciation for the central role faculty members play in shaping the educational and research missions of the FAS, defining Yale’s strengths, and setting the university’s future. He has developed a keen understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing tenured, tenure-track, and instructional faculty across divisions and is well equipped to lead the FAS into the future.
Steven currently serves as the vice provost for global strategy and the Henry R. Luce Director of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International Affairs, where he leads efforts to promote scholarship and engagement on regional and global issues, support international student projects, and build a scholarly community of 375 affiliated faculty. Previously, he served as the acting dean of the Division of Social Science and chair of the Department of Political Science. The Office of the Provost will soon announce processes to identify the next vice provost for global strategy and the next Henry R. Luce Director of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International Affairs.
As vice provost, Steven chaired a faculty committee that ensured continuity of Yale’s international research during the height of the COVID pandemic. He also has led efforts to expand Yale’s Scholars at Risk program and improve the efficiency with which the university supports international research and collaborations. The breadth of his experiences underscores his ability to lead a range of teams and create and implement strategic priorities for the university.
In addition to his leadership contributions, Steven has built a career characterized by a dedication to excellence in research and scholarship over the past twenty-five years. His own work on South Asia is interdisciplinary, and combines archival research, field research, interviews, and quantitative data to answer larger questions in comparative politics, civil-military relations, and ethnic politics. His most notable publications include Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India, which won the American Political Science Association Best Book Award; Patrons, Clients and Policies (edited with Herbert Kitschelt), which examines vote buying in politics across the world; and Army and Nation: India’s Military and Democracy since Independence, which has had a significant impact on policy debates in South Asia as well as in political science. His academic contributions have meaningfully influenced the fields of political science and South Asian studies and have been recognized in many ways, including through his election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
A committed educator and mentor, Steven has influenced the career trajectory of scores of students and early-career scholars. He remains in contact with many of his former undergraduate and senior thesis advisees from Yale. His former Ph.D. students now teach in top research universities and liberal arts colleges in the United States, Canada, and South Asia, and they speak warmly of his encouragement and advice throughout their careers. Much of his administrative effort at Yale, especially in his role as director of MacMillan, has been dedicated to enriching teaching and scholarship in our community through improving the ability of our students and faculty to travel internationally to learn other cultures and languages and by bringing visitors from around the world to Yale.
Steven’s focus on academic excellence is matched by his commitment to service. His involvement in university committees has addressed critical issues such as the formation of the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, the Belonging initiative, faculty support and mentoring, risk assessment, international education, and gifts and grants. He also has been sought out by other leading research universities for his expertise in evaluating their international initiatives, research, and teaching. As he works with other institutions, he is constantly seeking best practices that he can bring to Yale.
In partnership with FAS faculty, next academic year, Steven will lead a strategic planning process to build a dynamic and collaborative environment where teaching, research, and scholarship flourish. Drawing on his own interdisciplinary work, he is aware of both the value of deep disciplinary knowledge and the opportunities that new collaborations across fields can bring, to advance their momentum and strengthen the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. By supporting faculty and fostering a vibrant academic culture, Steven will ensure faculty and students can address some of the most pressing challenges of our time and expand the frontiers of knowledge.
We thank all of you who submitted nominations and provided suggestions regarding strategic opportunities and challenges for the FAS. Your comments and ideas for the future of FAS informed both the committee’s recommendations and our decision. We also are grateful to the members of the search advisory committee, chaired by Professor Marvin Chun, for the time and energy they dedicated to this search, where they sought the views of the FAS community during dozens of listening sessions, meetings, and interviews, and provided thoughtful feedback and recommendations to us. The search advisory committee expressed appreciation for Steven’s track record of collaborative, inclusive, and consultative leadership; influential scholarship; commitment to teaching; and ability to streamline administrative operations to support faculty and students.
Please join us in congratulating Steven on his new role. We know he appreciates deeply the opportunity to work with you to foster an exceptional educational and intellectual community, enhance faculty support and collaborations across disciplines, and chart a bold course for the future of the FAS.
Sincerely,
Maurie McInnis
President
Professor of the History of Art
Scott Strobel
Provost
Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry