Yale Daily News

On Monday, Elizabeth Bradley GRD ’96 and current president of Vassar College delivered the Dean’s Lecture at the School of Public Health. In the talk, entitled “Getting on the Balcony,” Bradley reflected on her career and the wisdom she has gained, especially during moments of transition. 

Bradley was on campus to be honored as one of this year’s four recipients of the Wilbur Cross Medal, which is the highest honor bestowed on Graduate School alumni. She is also one of the eight people that the News identified last week as possible replacements for University President Peter Salovey, who intends to step down in June. If tapped, Bradley would be the first woman to head the University in a non-interim capacity.

Established in 1966, the Wilbur Cross Medal was created to honor former Graduate School Dean and Connecticut governor Wilbur Lucius Cross. Cross was a member of the Graduate School’s class of 1889 and served as a professor at the Sheffield Scientific School — which predated the Graduate School — and as dean of the Graduate School from 1916 until 1930. 

The three other recipients this year include professor of philosophy and African American studies at Columbia Robert J. Gooding-Williams ’75 GRD ’82, University of Delaware psychology professor James M. Jones GRD ’70 and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company vice chairman and chief executive officer Che-Chia Wei GRD ’85.

“The dean’s committee that helps make these decisions about who gets honored intentionally looks across the many different disciplines at the Graduate School,” Deborah J. Jagielow, the associate director of engagement and alumni relations at the Graduate School, told the News.

Cross medal recipients are nominated by peers in their field and then reviewed and selected through an internal review process at the Graduate School. Once chosen, the recipients return to Yale, where they are hosted by their respective departments and attend an award ceremony and evening gala dinner with Lynn Cooley, Dean of the Graduate School, and Salovey.

In her lecture, Bradley talked about the power of embracing opportunities and the importance of learning through research and career pivots. She described her own storied trajectory in professional leadership, from her academic scholarship to a decade of work in global health — including collaboration with the Clinton Foundation — to co-authoring a book about the impact of social determinants of health. 

“I actually love transitions, though they are also very unsettling,” Bradley said. “The reason I love them is because they allow for a time of disengagement and then re-engagement, and, in that moment … all things are free, all things are unencumbered, full of potential, open to what might be new.” 

After graduating from the Yale School of Public Health, Bradley became an assistant professor at the school and went on to lead the Health Management Program. She later became the Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy and was the founder and faculty director of the Yale Global Health Leadership Initiative. 

As the first director of Yale’s Global Health Leadership Initiative, Bradley also spearheaded education and research programs. 

“Her influence on GHLI is still felt today, as our team works with health care professionals across the U.S. and around the world to drive changes in management, leadership and organizational performance, shaping progress toward all kinds of public health goals,” said Leslie Curry, professor of public health and management. 

Bradley collaborated with the Clinton Foundation and former Ethiopian Minister of Health Kesetebirhan Admasu to strengthen hospital and health systems in 2012. She emphasized how evidence-based research creates the foundation for effective teaching and advancing the overall health and well-being of populations. 

Bradley said that her career transitioned again in 2012, when she co-wrote “The American Health Care Paradox: Why Spending More Is Getting Us Less” — a text that describes the impact of social determinants on population health outcomes. 

“[Bradley] has been leading conversations way before their time, and before their wide recognition and acceptance,” said Marcella Nunez Smith, a professor of internal medicine, epidemiology and public health at the medical school, about Bradley’s research on the improvement of quality of care within hospital settings. 

Bradley continued to publish research and later became the head of Branford College. 

Throughout her time at Yale, Bradley began to realize that translating research into practice and speaking publicly about it was very meaningful to her.

“I felt drawn to the basic questions of creating and sustaining learning communities that are free to question the status quo, open up to new ideas, and empower voices that have important contributions to make but for any number of reasons have been marginalized,” Bradley said. 

In the lecture, Bradley discussed how effective leadership and culture drive organizational performance. 

For her colleagues at Yale, this intellectual curiosity and leadership made her a strong mentor and adviser.

“It was an absolute delight and privilege to welcome Dr. Bradley back,” Megan Ranney, dean of the School of Public Health, said. “She exemplifies so many of the best characteristics of our school, ranging from inclusivity to scientific rigor to a commitment to real-world impact.”

Bradley also described herself as a philomath, someone who loves to learn. 

Throughout the talk, she emphasized the importance of mentorship and continued learning.

“Students have always been at the center of change,” Bradley said. “Listening to those voices, if we are to scholars and educators, is so fulfilling, as the learning goes both ways.” 

After a 20-year tenure at Yale, Bradley left the University in July 2017 to serve as Vassar College’s 11th president; she said during the lecture that she sought to bring her advocacy for inclusive leadership and learning to her new post. In that same year, Bradley was also elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

Prior to receiving a graduate degree in health economics from Yale, Bradley graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in economics from Harvard University in 1984 and received a business degree in 1986 from the University of Chicago, where she specialized in health administration and organizational behavior.