Elizabeth (Betsy) Bradley, Ph.D., the Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy, head of Branford College, professor of public health, and faculty director of the Global Health Leadership Institute, has been named as the next president of Vassar College. She will remain at Yale through the end of this academic year before moving on to her new appointment.
This news is both tremendously exciting—reflecting, as it does, Professor Bradley’s place as a highly respected academic leader and expert scholar of global health—and undeniably bittersweet for Yale. She has enriched immeasurably the life of our campus community and will be missed as a visionary researcher, beloved teacher, wise mentor, trusted leader, and invaluable colleague.
Professor Bradley came to Yale twenty-five years ago as a doctoral student in health economics after earning her A.B. from Harvard and MBA from the University of Chicago. From her arrival on our campus, she has been a champion for innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. In 2009 she founded the Global Health Leadership Institute, drawing on and reinforcing the strengths of programs in global health research, education, and practice from across the university and beyond. The institute has gained international recognition for its work connecting faculty at Yale with researchers, practitioners, and policymakers around the world. With Professor Bradley’s leadership, Yale also launched the Global Health Scholars, an interdisciplinary undergraduate program combining coursework and field practice. 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. Since 2015 she has served as director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy.
In addition to her academic leadership, Professor Bradley has been a dedicated contributor to undergraduate life at Yale. She was appointed as head of Branford College in 2011, and she and her family—husband John Bradley and children, Alice, Kate, and Tim—are beloved by Branford students and fellows. She has been praised for helping students start the Branford Tea Room, leading the college to an undefeated intramural squash season in 2012, strengthening the graduate affiliates program, overseeing the refurbishment of the pottery and art rooms, and generally nourishing Branford’s strong sense of community.