Yale Daily News
Aquatic ecologist and Yale professor David Post has been appointed to serve as the dean of faculty at Yale-NUS College beginning July 1.
Post –– who will serve as dean of faculty for a three-year term –– is taking over for Yale psychology professor Jeannette Ickovics, who has been the Yale-NUS dean of faculty since 2018. Along with his professorship at Yale, Post also served as the chair of the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct from 2014 to 2018. Yale-NUS announced Post’s new appointment in a press release on Jan. 20. Post grew up in Singapore in the 1970’s.
“Yale-NUS College is Yale’s most ambitious international partnership,” University President Peter Salovey said in the press release. “We are fortunate to have Prof Post, a long-time Yale faculty member, participating in the ongoing hiring and development of faculty for Yale-NUS, which has become a model for liberal arts and sciences education in Asia and worldwide.”
Post researches food web structure and dynamics, as well as the influence of environmental change on ecosystem function, at the University’s Post Lab. He has also studied the impact of environmental change on species in diverse habitats ranging from Connecticut lakes to the Mara River in Africa.
While Post told the News that it is “too soon” to discuss the specific initiatives he will address while in Singapore, he said he plans to strengthen the Yale-NUS curriculum and enrich the scholarship of its students and faculty.
President of Yale-NUS College Tan Tai Yong said in the press release that Post is a “committed educator” dedicated to the liberal arts and engaging students in research. He said that Post’s appointment will benefit the college’s faculty, students and wider community.
Tan also thanked Ickovics for her work in developing mentorship opportunities for junior and female faculty, promoting multidisciplinary scholarship and highlighting faculty research throughout her tenure.
“In taking on this new role, [Post] will make a substantial contribution to Yale-NUS by continuing to strengthen its outstanding faculty and innovative curriculum,” Vice President for Global Strategy Pericles Lewis said in the press release. “Prof Post will also help maintain the close ties between Yale and the National University of Singapore as Yale-NUS enters its second decade.”
President of the National University of Singapore Tan Eng Chye similarly said that Post’s appointment demonstrates Yale’s “strong ties” to Yale-NUS College and the University’s commitment to the success of the College –– which some Yale-NUS students have recently called into question.
Post said he plans to complete the spring semester at Yale and then return to his childhood country this summer.
“My family and I are excited to live in and learn from a region and college community located at a crossroad of cultures and a center of innovation for the 21st century,” Post wrote in an email to the News. “We look forward to exploring Singapore and Southeast Asia, to eating our way through Singapore’s hawker stalls, and to participating in campus life.”
Yale-NUS College was established in 2011.
Julia Brown | julia.k.brown@yale.edu
