Six weeks after former Yale Provost Alison Richard stepped down to become vice chancellor of the University of Cambridge, two deputy provosts announced they will step down as well.
Deputy Provost for Science and Technology Pierre Hohenberg and Deputy Provost for the Arts Diana Kleiner will become full-time faculty members in the fall after ending their tenures in the provost’s office at the end of the academic year. The departures mark the first major changes in the office’s administration since Richard appointed three new deputy provosts — including both Hohenberg and Kleiner — in 1995. Both Hohenberg and Kleiner said they were leaving their positions because they wanted to return to research and teaching.
In a letter to deans and chairs of the faculty of arts and sciences, Provost Susan Hockfield said that she hopes to announce replacements by the end of the academic year.
Hockfield said Hohenberg and Kleiner have made significant contributions to the University in the sciences and arts, respectively. She said that Hohenberg has helped to improve the image of Yale’s sciences — which have traditionally not been seen as Yale’s strong point — and that Kleiner has developed “an almost unrivaled collection of arts endeavors.”
“Both of them have played central roles in some of the transformative activities of the University,” Hockfield said.
Hohenberg said he is proud of his accomplishments in recruitment, facilities renewal and management of the various science units. He said that he has also worked to energize the sciences.
“I felt that I supported, as much as I could, the aims of the president and the provost to raise the profile and morale of science and technology,” Hohenberg said.
Kleiner said that she has accomplished a number of things in her time in the office, including spearheading area plans in the arts, the music campus and at the Divinity School. The plans included the full renovations of the Divinity School and Sprague Hall. She was also involved in the creation of the Digital Media Center for the Arts and the Center for Media Initiatives, and is Yale’s liaison to AllLearn, the University’s online learning alliance.
“I really thrived in this job, and I really thrived in the partnership with Alison Richard,” Kleiner said. “That said, it’s eight years.”
In her letter, Hockfield asked recipients to bring to her attention any faculty at Yale or other institutions who might replace the outgoing provosts. The provost’s office will also advertise for the positions.
“These are important roles, as evidenced by the activities of the two provosts,” Hockfield said.
Next year, Kleiner will return to the Yale faculty in the Classics and History of Art departments, while Hohenberg will join the Physics and Applied Physics departments as an adjunct professor.
Hohenberg came to Yale in 1995 after spending 30 years at Bell Laboratories, where he became distinguished for his significant contributions in research on theoretical condensed matter physics. He said he looks forward to rejoining the “life of science” and to teaching at Yale.
Kleiner has been at Yale since 1980, and served as the master of Pierson College and the chair of the Classics Department before joining the provost’s office in 1995. She said that she looks forward to returning to teaching and her research on Roman art. She will also complete her book, “Cleopatra and Rome.”