History

The Office of the Provost was established in March 1919, when the Yale Corporation voted to approve the recommendations set forth in the Committee on Educational Policy’s Report on University Reorganization.  The vote set the stage for sweeping changes in Yale’s structure, including the addition of two new University officers (provost and dean of students), the organization of University departments, the allocation of these departments into divisions, and the establishment of a University Council chaired by the provost.

As described in the committee’s report:

The Provost shall be concerned primarily with education and with Faculty relations.  He shall assist the President in matters affecting Faculties, Departments, Divisions, and Deans, and in coordinating the educational work of the various Schools, Departments, and Divisions of the University.  He shall be an ex-officio member of all Faculties and Governing Boards and Chairman of the University Council.

The current and past provosts of Yale University are a diverse group of accomplished leaders.  Many have gone on to serve as president of Yale or to hold significant leadership positions at other institutions.

Sources:              

Report of the Committee on Educational Policy to the Yale Corporation, March 17, 1919.

Pierson, George Wilson (1952). Yale College: An Educational History, 1871-1921. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.