Yale-NUS announces new Dean of Faculty

From 1 July 2021, Professor David M Post will lead faculty development, drive research endeavours and refine the College’s innovative curriculum for the future

Singapore, – Yale-NUS College will appoint Professor David M Post, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale University, as Dean of Faculty from 1 July 2021, for a term of three years. Professor Post, who will take over the role from current Dean of Faculty Professor Jeannette Ickovics, will be in charge of leading faculty development, driving research endeavours, and refining the College’s innovative curriculum for the future.

Prof Post is an aquatic ecologist and Principal Investigator of the Post Lab at Yale, where his research tests long-standing questions about food web structure and dynamics, the influence of environmental change on community structure and ecosystem function, spatial linkages among ecosystems, and the importance of interactions between ecology and evolution for community and ecosystem processes. He has studied the impacts of environmental change on species in habitats as diverse as Connecticut lakes and the Mara River in Africa.

He is a Member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected by his peers for his distinguished contributions to the understanding of the structure and dynamics of food webs in aquatic ecosystems in their response to environmental change. Prof Post earned his PhD from Cornell University, and his BA and MS from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

“Yale-NUS College is Yale’s most ambitious international partnership. 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,” said President of Yale University, Professor Peter Salovey.

President of the National University of Singapore (NUS), Professor Tan Eng Chye, similarly welcomed Prof Post’s appointment. “I am happy to welcome Prof Post to Yale-NUS to lead a team of dedicated educators focused on both active scholarship and undergraduate teaching. NUS shares a deep relationship with Yale, and this appointment illustrates Yale’s strong ties to the College and its commitment to the success of Yale-NUS.”

During his time here, Prof Post aims to work with the faculty to maintain excellence in scholarship across all disciplines, to support their professional development, and to help develop new opportunities for collaboration within Yale-NUS and across NUS and Yale. In addition, he hopes to challenge the faculty to identify and strengthen areas of distinction that can fortify the curriculum and enrich the scholarship of students and faculty.

“I am incredibly impressed by what has been achieved at Yale-NUS in its first decade. I am excited to join the strong and vibrant Yale-NUS community as it transitions into its second decade, and eager to work with the students, faculty, and staff of Yale-NUS to sustain and enhance the exceptional living and learning environment on campus that promotes life-long learning and trains the next generation of global leaders,” he said.

“Prof Post is an admired colleague and distinguished scientist, who has demonstrated his leadership ability during nearly two decades at Yale. In taking on this new role, he will make a substantial contribution to Yale-NUS by continuing to strengthen its outstanding faculty and innovative curriculum. Prof Post will also help maintain the close ties between Yale and the National University of Singapore as Yale-NUS enters its second decade,” said Vice President for Global Strategy and Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives at Yale University, Professor Pericles Lewis.

“Prof Post is a committed educator with experience in engaging undergraduate students in research, and a firm believer in liberal arts. We are glad that such exchanges of expertise and talent have helped us continue to maintain our close ties with Yale and NUS. We look forward to deepening this engagement further to benefit our faculty, students, and the wider community.” said President of Yale-NUS College, Professor Tan Tai Yong.

President Tan Tai Yong also thanked outgoing Dean of Faculty Professor Jeannette Ickovics for her service to Yale-NUS, noting that during her tenure, she had been instrumental in envisioning new academic initiatives, promoting cross-divisional and multidisciplinary scholarship, developing mentorship opportunities for junior and female faculty, and highlighting faculty members’ innovative research.

For media enquiries, please contact publicaffairs@yale-nus.edu.sg.