Xuthoria via Wikimedia Commons

Yale alumni elected Jaime Teevan ’98, Microsoft’s chief scientist and technical fellow, to serve a six-year term on the Yale Corporation as an alumni fellow. 

University President Maurie McInnis announced Teevan’s election during her Reunion University Update address on Saturday. Calling Teevan “one of the longtime leaders in artificial intelligence,” McInnis praised her as a leader in the tech world and a committed alumna with a longstanding record of service to Yale.

Teevan, who majored in computer science at Yale before earning her doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, was previously tasked with integrating GPT-4 — the advanced large language model created by Microsoft-backed OpenAI — into Microsoft’s core products. In 2023, she was recognized by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in AI. Teevan also developed the first personalized search algorithm used by Bing and holds 61 patents, authoring more than 280 publications, according to McInnis’ speech.

Beyond her AI research, McInnis noted that she is “delighted” that Teevan will be continuing her “service at Yale as a trustee.”

Teevan serves on Yale’s School of Engineering and Applied Science Leadership Council, advising Dean Jeffrey Brock on artificial intelligence strategy. She is also an affiliate professor at the University of Washington.

The Yale Corporation’s membership includes ten appointed successor trustees and six alumni fellows elected by University alumni for terms of six years. Alumni fellow elections are held for one trustee position each year. The two candidates in the alumni fellow election are selected by the Yale Alumni Association’s Alumni Fellow Nominating Committee.

Teevan ran in the 2025 alumni fellow election against Robert Higgins MED ’85, who serves as president and chief academic and clinical officer of Rush University.

In her candidate speech video, which was published by Yale on March 3, Teevan credited Yale’s interdisciplinary focus for shaping her innovative thinking.

“People sometimes get confused about this, but science is honestly a really creative endeavor,” Teevan said. “To be a good scientist, you need to be able to see things in new ways, you need to understand the past, you need to be able to communicate clearly. And this is at the heart of a Yale education.”

Reflecting on the rapid pace of technological change, particularly in artificial intelligence, Teevan emphasized Yale’s potential to help guide the world through turbulent technological transitions. She argued that Yale’s liberal arts model, especially its emphasis on “metacognitive skills,” is uniquely suited to navigate the future of education in an AI-powered world. She explained how Yale is “well-positioned to provide a template for what good education can look like with AI.”

As one of the six alumni fellows on the Yale Corporation, Teevan will help review the University’s academic, administrative and financial priorities and decisions. The Corporation includes the president of the university and sixteen Yale graduates: ten appointed successor trustees and six elected alumni fellows.

“Looking to the decade ahead,” Teevan said, “It’s clear that cutting-edge research is needed to address some of the biggest challenges facing the world right now. And Yale can do that in particular by leaning into its interdisciplinary strength.”

All Yale graduates are eligible to vote in the annual election of one new alumni fellow, except for Yale College alumni less than five years out.

The Corporation will next meet on June 7. Teevan’s term will begin on July 1.