UPDATE 6:08 p.m. The new master of Branford is School of Public Health Professor Betsy Bradley GRD ’96. Bradley is the faculty director of Yale’s Global Health Leadership Institute.

Read the full letter from University President Richard Levin and Yale College Dean Mary Miller:

April 4, 2011

To the Branford College Community:

It gives us great pleasure to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Howe Bradley, Professor of Public Heath and faculty director of the Global Health Leadership Institute at Yale, as the next Master of Branford College for a period of five years beginning July 1, 2011.

Professor Bradley received her B.A. from Harvard University (1984), an MBA (1986) from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. (1996) in health economics and health policy from Yale. At the School of Public Health, she works with the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, and she is part of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the School of Medicine. She is a three-time recipient of the Teacher of the Year award at the School of Public Heath, and a recipient of the John D. Thompson Young Investigator Award and the Investigator Award from the Donaghue Medical Research Foundation. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and is a member of the Academy Health.

Professor Bradley’s research focuses on health delivery systems and quality improvement. Her work in the U.S. focuses on the quality of hospital care for patients with heart attacks, as well as the use and quality of hospice services. She is also deeply engaged in projects in international settings, including China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, which focus on strengthening health systems, especially in the area of health care delivery, and improving management capacity of healthcare professionals. She and her colleagues created the first Masters of Hospital and Healthcare Management on the African continent. Professor Bradley has published nearly 200 articles in scholarly journals such as Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine. She is currently a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council for Healthcare Systems, which seeks innovative ways to enhance health system delivery in global settings. She is passionate about finding ways to improve human health in places of poverty and oppression, and she hopes to inspire Branford students to look at the problems and opportunities presented by these issues.

Professor Bradley’s husband, John, graduated from Yale in 1981 and was a member of Branford College. He has accepted the position of Associate Master. Mr. Bradley, who grew up in New Haven, is the executive director of Liberty Community Services, a social service agency in New Haven that provides supportive housing and other services for those facing homelessness, chronic illness, addiction, or mental health issues. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Joining their parents in the college will be Kate, 15, a sophomore at the Hopkins School, where she particularly enjoys playing lacrosse, and Tim, 11, a 6th grader at Hamden Hall who likes civil war history. Alice, 18, a freshman in international studies at the University of Wisconsin, will be in residence from time to time as her schedule permits. The family enjoys playing sports (Professor Bradley especially likes squash, but she also plays basketball, field hockey and softball, so perhaps you can convince her to participate actively in Branford intramurals), and Professor Bradley also enjoys listening to or conducting a cappella music.

We are grateful to the Branford Master’s Search Committee led by Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology, for their very fine work in identifying potential individuals who might serve as master. The committee included Professors Verity Harte (Philosophy and Classics) and Maurice Samuels (French), and Merle Waxman, Associate Dean and Ombudsperson and Director of the Office of Women in Medicine, along with students Bahij Chancey, Sabrina Karim, Alix Perry, Erica Rothman, Charles (Max) Walden, and Hana Zegeye. All provided thoughtful and helpful contributions.

At this time we offer warmest thanks to Master Steven Smith and Associate Master Susan Smith for their fifteen years of service to Branford. The Smiths have been fine stewards of Branford, and Master Smith’s intellectual leadership has been much appreciated. Their impeccable care for the physical well being of the College was most evident through Branford’s renovation process, and these efforts have been matched by their loyalty to the college’s traditions and their graciousness as hosts to students, fellows, and staff. We wish the Smith family, including son Josh who was part of their early years in the College, the very best as they end this adventure and move back to off-campus life.

Sincerely yours,

Richard C. Levin

Mary E. Miller

At 6 p.m. tonight, Branford College may have a new master.

In an email to the Branford community this afternoon, outgoing master Steven Smith invited students to be at the dining hall for an “important announcement.” Smith, who announced his decision to step down as master this January, is leaving the position after three five-year terms.

Although the message did not explicitly say that the new master would be announced at this gathering, Smith wrote that both Yale College President Richard Levin and Dean Mary Miller would be in attendance.

President Levin issued a statement to the members of Branford College on Feb. 11 to announce the formation of a search committee to find a replacement for Smith. The committee, headed by psychology professor Paul Bloom, was composed of three Branford College fellows and six Branford students.

Smith joined the Yale faculty in 1984 as a professor of political science.

Correction: April 4, 2011

Due to an editing error the headline of the article mistakenly said that Bradley graduated from Yale in 1995, it was 1996.