A visiting professor was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital in stable condition Friday afternoon after being struck by a car on High Street, Yale Police Department spokesman Sgt. Steven Woznyk said.
The car, traveling north on High Street between College and Chapel streets, hit Youngsook Pak, who has been the Korea Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor in History of Art and East Asian Studies since last January. The extent of Pak’s injuries is unknown, but a spokesperson for the hospital said Pak was no longer receiving treatment at the hospital Tuesday night.
Woznyk said he does not know details about the professor’s injuries because the accident was investigated by the New Haven Police Department, and the report on the incident filed by the NHPD did not include specifics about Pak’s injuries.
City Hall Spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said that, according to the police report, Pak was struck by a car when she stepped off the right-side curb of High Street, near Old Campus. Because there is no designated crosswalk in the middle of the block, the report noted, Pak did not have the right of way.
According to the report, the vehicle was traveling at about 15 miles per hour.
The driver of the vehicle heard a thump, the police report stated, but did not realize she had hit anyone. She stopped her car immediately and saw Pak lying on the pavement, according to the report.
Following the accident, a squad car blocked automobile traffic onto High Street from Chapel Street. An ambulance and several police cars were also at the scene, an eyewitness said.
According to the police report, the driver was “very upset.”
NHPD officers at the scene found Pak, rather than the driver, to be at fault, since she was crossing at an unmarked location where automotive traffic had the right of way.
Pak, who specializes in Korean art history, is teaching two classes this semester. The undergraduate course “Foreign Influences on Korean Art” and the Graduate School course “Text & Images in Korean Art” are cross-listed in the History of Art and East Asian Studies Departments.
Pak did not respond to e-mail and voice mail requests for comment Tuesday.
Last semester, Pak taught “Art and Society in Confucian Choson,” which was offered under the History of Art and East Asian Studies majors.
David Joselit, chair of the History of Art Department, said he had not heard of the accident.
University Spokeswoman Helaine Klasky said she was unaware of the incident as of early Monday evening. Yale College Dean Peter Salovey said Tuesday that he had not heard of the accident either.
Pak will continue teaching at Yale until the end of the semester.
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