Elizabeth (Betsy) Bradley, Ph.D. ‘96, became the 11th president of Vassar College in 2017. Prior to her appointment, she enjoyed a long and distinguished career at Yale University and the Yale School of Public Health.
At Yale, Bradley directed the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, which aims to help undergraduates become thoughtful and responsible leaders in addressing such challenges as climate change and economic inequality through the study of history, classics and political thought. She also was the founder and faculty director of the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute, which conducts research and education programs in partnership with community leaders in China, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, and South Africa. With Professor Bradley’s leadership, Yale also launched the Global Health Scholars initiative, an interdisciplinary undergraduate program combining coursework and field practice.
A highly respected academic leader and expert scholar in global health, Bradley was a popular professor at the Yale School of Public Health, where she was honored as teacher of the year three times. She also served as the Head of Branford College. At the time of her departure, Bradley’s peers described her as a visionary researcher, beloved teacher, wise mentor, trusted leader and invaluable colleague. Bradley graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1984. She earned an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Health Economics from Yale in 1996. Before coming to Yale, Bradley was a hospital administrator at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers and co-authored three books, most recently, The American Healthcare Paradox: Why Spending More is Getting Us Less. In 2018, she was named a member of the Council of Foreign Affairs and elected to the National Academy of Medicine.