Saiers Named Interim 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.

James Saiers, the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES), will serve as the School’s Interim Dean until a permanent replacement is appointed, Yale President Peter Salovey announced today.
 
His tenure as Interim Dean will begin on July 1 upon the completion of Dean Peter Crane’s final day at F&ES.
james saiers fes James Saiers
Saiers, the Clifton R. Musser Professor of Hydrology, has been at F&ES since 1999. He also holds appointments in the departments of Geology and Geophysics and Chemical Engineering at Yale.
 
In a message to the community, Salovey said he hopes to complete the permanent appointment “very soon,” but thanked Saiers for serving as Interim Dean during the transition.

He will serve as Interim Dean until the new Dean arrives, at which point Saiers will continue as professor at F&ES.

“I am deeply grateful to Professor Saiers for accepting this assignment,” Salovey wrote. “Over his fifteen years at Yale, he has gained deep knowledge of the university — and of the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in particular — that will be invaluable during this period of transition. With his willingness to provide interim leadership, and with the dedication that all of you show to upholding Yale’s excellence, I am confident of our continued success.” 
 
Saiers has served as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs since 2010. He will leave that role on June 30, and a new Associate Dean will be appointed before the beginning of the fall semester. 
As Interim Dean, I want to make sure the School is in good shape when the new Dean gets here. 
— James Saiers
“I’ve been on the faculty since 1999 and I’ve been Associate Dean for seven years. I’ve worked on the budget and operations committee and on the strategic planning committee under Dean Crane. So I have a good understanding of the functioning of the School, including on the staff, faculty, and student sides,” Saiers said.
 
“As Interim Dean, I want to make sure the School is in good shape when the new Dean gets here. If there are any little things we need to do to keep moving the School forward in the interim, that’s what we’ll do.”
 
Crane, who came to Yale in 2009, is leaving to become the inaugural president of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, an estate of Rachel Lambert Mellon in Virginia that includes extensive gardens and a library of landscape history and plant science.
– Kevin Dennehy    kevin.dennehy@yale.edu    203 436-4842