Yale School of Management (SOM) Dean Edward Snyder today announced his plans to take a sabbatical starting August 1, 2017, the school reports. Though he will continue to work on strategic projects, he will step away from daily management responsibilities. Anjani Jain, who is currently senior associate dean for the MBA program, will serve as acting dean.
Snyder has been at the helm at Yale SOM since 2011, having been reappointed to a second five-year term in January 2016. In announcing his reappointment, Yale University President Peter Salovey praised Snyder for the impressive gains the school had already made under his leadership. “We have seen the School of Management flourish along many dimensions—notably among them, the spectacular new Edward P. Evans Hall; the strategic expansion of the school’s programs, both degree and non-degree; the opening of Yale Center Beijing, which is managed by SOM on behalf of the university; and the development of a strong SOM team, internally and externally,” Salovey said in a statement.
Snyder came to Yale from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he was likewise credited with helping that school make major strides. During his decade-long reign at Booth, Snyder won praise for doubling the school’s number of endowed professorships, tripling its scholarship assistance to students, and successfully courting the unprecedented $300 million gift from alumnus David Booth, for which the school was renamed. This track record, at Booth and subsequently at Yale SOM, has helped him earn designation by many as a business school whisperer of sorts.
At Yale, Snyder has also spearheaded the development of the Global Network for Advanced Management, a group of deans from international business schools from around the globe designed to address the evolving issues facing leaders in business and society. He will continue his involvement with the Global Network during his sabbatical while also working to develop resources for program innovation and student scholarships and pursuing a research agenda, the school reports. Snyder’s past research has focused on industrial organization, antitrust economics, law and economics, and financial institutions.
Snyder’s sabbatical spurs a number of other shifts among leading administrators at Yale SOM. In addition to Jain’s serving as acting dean, David Bach, the current senior associate dean for the executive MBA and global programs, will be promoted to deputy dean with additional duties. Deputy Dean Edi Pinker will remain in his role, with a continued focus on faculty development and research infrastructure build out.
As acting dean, Jain will have overall responsibility for the school and continue to oversee the full-time MBA program, Salovey wrote in an email to the SOM community.
