Yale Daily News
Under blue skies at the foot of Mount Royal, Yale President Peter Salovey received an honorary degree from McGill University on Tuesday, alongside thirteen others including an architect, performing arts administrator and physicist.
At its Quebecois urban campus, the Canadian university awarded Salovey a Doctor of Laws from the Faculty of Education at the Education Convocation ceremony. A statement from McGill praised Salovey for his five years at the helm of the University, citing his role in the expansion of Yale College and the development of academic priorities with an emphasis on the sciences.
“For more than three decades, Dr. Salovey has combined excellence in scholarship with a commitment to outstanding university leadership,” read a short biography from McGill about the honorary degree recipients. “At Yale University, he has dedicated himself to mentoring and assisting the career development of young faculty members, as well as fostering diversity in the university, promoting academic integrity, and legislating against sexual misconduct.”
McGill also applauded Salovey for his work as a researcher co-pioneering the theory of “emotional intelligence,” a framework for how people understand and act upon emotions.
Salovey was not the only University President to receive an honor from McGill this year. Alongside the Woodbridge Hall administrator, computer scientist Maria Klawe, the first female president of Harvey Mudd College, received a Doctor of Science.
The doctorate adds a fifth notch to Salovey’s belt, which already includes honors from the University of Pretoria, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and National Tsing Hua University. In 2015, he received a doctor of laws from Harvard for his research and leadership at Yale, where he became “a popular teacher and gregarious campus figure,” wrote a Harvard University statement.
Indeed, before he assumed office in Woodbridge Hall, Salovey — whose crowded psychology lectures earned him the nickname “Easy-A Salovey” among some students — served as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, dean of Yale College and provost.
After graduating with a bachelors from Stanford and a doctorate from Yale, Salovey rose through Yale’s administrative ranks for almost three decades at Yale before becoming the 23rd University President.
Salovey is the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology and holds secondary appointments at the School of Management, School of Public Health, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and the Sociology Department.
Hailey Fuchs | hailey.fuchs@yale.edu