Baala Shakya, Staff Photographer

On Thursday evening, during a special announcement in the JE dining hall, Mark Saltzman was named the incoming Jonathan Edwards head of college. He will serve a three-year term.

Saltzman previously served as the interim head of college following former JE Head Paul North’s unexpected announcement that he would step down on Dec. 20, following almost two and a half years in the role. North is on academic leave and was not present at the announcement.

Saltzman also previously served as the JE head of college for six years from 2016 to 2022 before he decided to step down to focus on teaching and research. This year’s senior class — the class of 2025 — were first years at the end of Saltzman’s previous tenure as JE’s head.

“To the seniors, are there any seniors here? I congratulate you on contributing to this highly creative community,” Saltzman said to the crowd gathering in the JE dining hall as he stood next to his family. “To those of you not yet seniors, I am so pleased that we will have the privilege to live with you, and I hope that I contribute productively to your lives. Who would have thought that I would get to repeat [those words] today, nine years later?”

Saltzman, who is the founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, studies the fields of drug delivery, biomaterials, nanobiotechnology and tissue engineering. He arrived at the University in 2002 after teaching at Johns Hopkins University and Cornell.

During the announcement of his return to the position of head of college, Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis called Saltzman a “dedicated and acclaimed teacher,” noting that Saltzman, in addition to being an amazing head of college, will also “share a love of the classroom” among the students of JE. His announcement of Saltzman was met with cheers from Spiders.

“As Napoleon was exiled to the Isle of Elba in 1814, yet in 1815, landed once again on the French mainland. As Steve Jobs left Apple in 1985 and returned in 1997 to lead the company to unprecedented success. And of course, as Michael Jordan retired from basketball in 1993, played minor league baseball for two years and yet returned to the NBA in 1995 with three more championships,” said Lewis, entertaining the crowd with historical comparisons. “I am pleased to announce not just the once and future, but once, current and future head of college, Mark Saltzman.”

Lewis then praised Saltzman for both his research and teaching accomplishments. 

Saltzman has delivered over 300 invited lectures and is the author of three textbooks. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, which Lewis noted in his introduction as “very high honors.” Saltzman also teaches undergraduate courses on physiological systems and the engineering of drug delivery, and was awarded Yale’s Sheffield Teaching Prize for excellence in the classroom in 2009.

Lewis told the News that Saltzman was “unanimously supported” by the advisory committee.

“It was very nice that he was willing to step in as an interim head,” said Dean Lewis. “I think he’s enjoying it, and the people here are enjoying it. And he’s already done six years, so he said, well, ‘why don’t we say three years?’ It will have been almost a decade by the time he’s finished.”

At Jonathan Edwards, Saltzman will be joined by his wife, Christina Pavlak, who is an assistant professor of education at Quinnipiac University and who will serve as Jonathan Edwards’ associate head. The couple will be joined by their two daughters, 12-year-old Noa and 6-year-old Willa, and their labrador retriever, Lulu.

In his speech, Saltzman noted that “the Head of College should be, first and foremost, a teacher.” He also underscored more serious topics, acknowledging that the community is in “a time of change and uncertainty” under the current political climate.

“Change happens. When I was standing here nine years ago, Barack Obama was president.

Jonathan Holloway was dean of Yale College. Willa was not yet born. There was no ChatGPT.

And I had a research letter from USAID,” said Saltzman as students laughed. “A lot happened in those years, and much of it is wonderful and welcome, but change can also be scary.”

However, Saltzman remains optimistic about the future. 

Following his speech in the JE dining hall, Saltman told the News that he looks forward to how the community will help one another. He noted how returning as head of college felt like returning home.

Allison Lee ’25, who served on the advisory committee on the selection of Saltzman and was a first-year during his last year as head, told the News that she’s “really excited” about his next three years with JE.

She believes that students will benefit greatly from “his leadership, his empathy and his family as well.”

“There’s a lot to learn, and he’s going to be a great teacher to every single student that walks through the doors,” said Lee. She recalled fondly the playlists Saltzman made for students: themed lists of songs that he included at the end of his weekly emails to the JE community, aptly named “Spider Bytes.”

Elias Silver ’25 called Saltzman’s appointment as head a “full-circle moment” and echoed Lee’s sentiment about how wonderful it was to have someone with “a lot of experience running the college.”

At the celebration, Saltzman was joined by two former JE heads of college: Gary L. Haller and Penelope Laurans.