Tim Tai

Former University President Peter Salovey will begin a five-year term on Stanford’s Board of Trustees on Dec. 1.

Stanford’s board is the third Salovey has joined since stepping down from his top post at Yale. In August, one month after his presidency ended, he joined the Board of Directors of the Legend Biotech Corporation, a biotechnology company. In November, he was named chair of the Board of Governors of The New York Academy of Sciences, a nonprofit supporting scientific research. He is continuing to serve on the board of the IBMA Foundation for Bluegrass Music.

Salovey was also named Yale’s Sterling Professor of Psychology on Friday. When he first announced that he would step down as president, he told the News that his plan was to return to the Yale faculty to work on writing and research projects and fundraise for the University.

Salovey declined to speak about the new position at Stanford, writing, “at the moment, I am taking a low profile and avoiding media interviews simply to allow the focus to be on our new president, as it should be.”

Salovey earned a B.A. in psychology and M.A. in sociology from Stanford in 1980 with departmental honors and university distinction. He then came to Yale to earn three degrees in psychology: an M.S. in 1983, an M.Phil. in 1984 and a Ph.D. in 1986. He donates annually to The Stanford Fund, which supports student organizations, academics and financial aid.

The Stanford Board of Trustees elected two other new trustees alongside Salovey, both of whom are managing partners of venture capital firms. There are no other university administrators on the Stanford board. 

Two university presidents served on the Yale Corporation until then-president of Stony Brook University Maurie McInnis was selected as Yale president this summer. The other president is Morehouse College President David Thomas ’78 GRD ’86. 

Stanford’s board is composed of 30 members, double the size of Yale’s. Some board members are chosen by sitting trustees from a pool nominated by alumni, and some — including Salovey — are selected through an internal selection process.

Jonathan Levin, the current president of Stanford, is the son of Richard Levin, the Yale president who preceded Salovey.

Trustees of Yale and Stanford occasionally visit each others’ universities. In 2010, Stanford’s board traveled to learn about Yale’s residential college system and arts and international programs. In 1999, Yale’s board visited to learn about topics such as technology in academia.

Salovey’s final day as president of Yale was June 30.