Crane appointed to second term as F&ES Dean

Note: Yale School of the Environment (YSE) was formerly known as the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES). News articles and events posted prior to July 1, 2020 refer to the School's name at that time.

This is an exciting time for the entire scope of science and environmental studies at Yale, and we look forward to the next steps under Dean Crane’s leadership.
— University President Richard Levin and President-elect Peter Salovey
Dean Peter Crane
Evolutionary biologist Peter Crane has been reappointed dean of the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2014.
 
“This is an exciting time for the entire scope of science and environmental studies at Yale, and we look forward to the next steps under Dean Crane’s leadership,” University President Richard Levin and President-elect Peter Salovey said in a joint statement June 5.
 
They praised Crane’s “strong leadership during difficult financial circumstances while maintaining high standards for scholarship and teaching,” and called his mentoring program for junior faculty “one of the most developed and supportive at the University.” They also highlighted Crane’s support for interdisciplinary relationships.
 
A former director of Chicago’s Field Museum and chief executive of England’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Crane was initially appointed dean of Yale F&ES in 2009. He had also been a professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago.
 
As F&ES dean he has also continued to pursue his own intellectual projects, and earlier this year published a new book, “Gingko: The Tree that Time Forgot.” He talks about the book and wide range of environmental issues in a recent broadcast interview.
 
British-born, Crane was awarded a knighthood in 2004.

 
 

June 5, 2013

To the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Community:

We write to announce the reappointment of Peter Crane as Dean of the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies for a five-year term, effective July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2019.

We join enthusiastically in the praise offered by many members of the faculty, alumni, and Leadership Council for Dean Crane’s efforts in providing strong leadership during difficult financial circumstances while maintaining high standards for scholarship and teaching. Dean Crane’s mentoring program for junior faculty is one of the most developed and supportive at the University. The infrastructure of the School has been strengthened under the Dean’s leadership, and interdisciplinary relationships across the University have deepened as well.

One commentator stated that he is impressed by the “sophistication [that the Dean] brings to thinking about management issues related to F&ES...[He] thinks carefully about the specific challenges of leading an interdisciplinary faculty.”

Another said that Dean Crane has “added to the School’s mission and reputation with his own style, knowledge, and grace.” And a third said the dean is “open minded, conscientious, and consistently exhibits sound judgment.”

This is an exciting time for the entire scope of science and environmental studies at Yale, and we look forward to the next steps under Dean Crane’s leadership.

Sincerely yours,

Richard C. Levin, President

Peter Salovey, President-elect