The Yale Corporation plans to discuss the state of the School of Medicine and the financial health of the University when it convenes this weekend for its first meeting of the academic year, Yale officials said.
The Corporation, the University’s highest decision-making body, convenes six times throughout the academic year. This weekend’s meeting, unlike other meetings, will be held at an off-campus site, Yale spokeswoman Helaine Klasky said. Corporation Senior Fellow Roland Betts ’68, maintaining the practice of keeping meeting agenda and whereabouts secretive, declined to divulge the location of this year’s retreat.
This weekend’s Corporation meeting will be the first since Yale President Richard Levin selected Andrew Hamilton as provost. It also marks the beginning of Margaret Marshall’s LAW ’76 term as a Corporation member.
Following University protocol, the Corporation members formally approved Levin’s selection of Hamilton as provost Monday night, Levin said. Betts said he was happy with the selection, noting that Hamilton will be yet another qualified leader amidst a solid group of University officials.
“I am very pleased,” Betts said. “We have a terrific new provost. Yale has a deep bench — a lot of good people.”
School of Medicine Dean Robert Alpern, who assumed his position June 1, said he will attend the Corporation meeting this weekend to provide an opportunity for him to get to know Corporation members. Members will also evaluate his work as dean during the past four months, Alpern said.
“They want to know my assessment on the state of the medical school, my vision for the future of the medical school — and what we want to do with the education program, the research and the clinical program,” Alpern said.
There will be a new face at the meeting this weekend, as Marshall replaces Linda Mason SOM ’80, who had served on the Corporation since 1998. Chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, Marshall has been a member of the Yale Law School Association Executive Commitee since 1991. Marshall, who was born in South Africa and took an active stance against apartheid, also served as vice president and general counsel of Harvard University from 1992 until 1996.
“I knew her work [for Harvard], and she was outstanding in that job. It was one of the reasons she got the nomination,” Levin said.
Levin said Marshall has “terrific qualifications” for a position on the Corporation, and that her majority opinion in the Massachusetts Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage did not raise any protest when she was elected to the Corporation.
Marshall’s election this spring also marked the first time Yale alumni could vote online to choose the next Corporation member. University administrators officially announced Marshall’s election during Commencement weekend in May.