More news of Yale people

Winnie Au

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Honored

The American Institute of Architects has chosen School of Architecture dean Deborah Berke (left) to receive its highest honor, the AIA Gold Medal. The medal is given annually to someone who “has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.” Berke, who has taught at Yale since 1987 and has been dean since 2016, was praised by the AIA for work that “balances modern aesthetics with vernacular sensitivity, showcasing how design can enrich daily life while fostering community and care.”

Emma Yanai ’25, a Yale College senior from Los Angeles, will study in London next year as one of 36 recipients of the Marshall Scholarship. The scholarships, awarded by the British government, fund up to three years of graduate study in the UK. Two graduating Yale College seniors and three recent alums are among this year’s Schwarzman Scholars, who receive funding for a one-year master’s program at Tsinghua University in China. They are Anne-Amélie Campant ’25, Rolando Kattan Rubi ’25, Yilin Chen ’23, Sharon Li ’20, and Mary Clare Mcmahon ’21

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Nick Mead

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Appointed

Martina Droth (left), an art historian and curator who has worked at the Yale Center for British Art for 16 years—most recently as deputy director—has been appointed the Paul Mellon Director of the center. Droth, a scholar of British sculpture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, comes to the job as the center reopens to the public in March after a two-year renovation project. She succeeds Courtney Martin ’09PhD, who left last year to become president of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Former Yale College dean and former Duke University president Richard Brodhead ’68, ’72PhD, served as interim director.

Political scientist Steven Wilkinson has been named to a five-year term as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Wilkinson, the Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies and professor of political science and international affairs, has taught at Yale since 2009; he also served as vice provost for global strategy and as director of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. The FAS dean oversees hiring, mentoring, and compensation for the faculty who teach in Yale College and the Graduate School. Wilkinson succeeds Tamar Gendler ’87, who had been dean since the position was created in 2014.

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Remembered

George Priest ’69, a professor at the Law School since 1981, died on December 17. He was 77. Priest, the Edward J. Phelps Professor of Law and Economics, was an authority on antitrust law; he was director of the Law School’s John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Public Policy. Dean Heather Gerken said Priest was “a beloved member of our community, someone who managed to be an intellectual giant with great warmth, humor, and modesty.”