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Jennifer Gandhi named faculty development dean at Yale
The appointment places Jennifer Gandhi in charge of faculty development, leadership training, and well-being initiatives across Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
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Malvika Choudhary - Tue, 05, May 2026
- 19:09 EDT
- 56
Jennifer Gandhi / Yale
Indian American political scientist Jennifer Gandhi was named the Phyllis A. Wallace dean of faculty development in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).
Gandhi, who currently serves as deputy dean at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, will assume the role for a five-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
She will succeed Larry Gladney, a professor of physics and former FAS dean of science, who held the position from January 2019 through June 2025 and is set to retire from the Yale faculty at the end of 2026.
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Gandhi joined Yale University in 2022 from Emory University, where she chaired the Department of Political Science. Since 2024, she has overseen admissions, curriculum, and student affairs at the Jackson School, in addition to serving on multiple FAS search committees.
She has also chaired the Yale Scholars at Risk Committee since 2023, managing efforts to bring scholars facing political persecution to the university, and currently serves on the Jackson School’s executive committee.
“I am excited that Jen has agreed to take on this multi-faceted new role. She’ll bring a wealth of leadership experience and good judgment to the position,” Wilkinson said in a message to the Yale community.
In her new role, Gandhi will lead initiatives focused on faculty well-being and professional development, including the Scholars as Leaders; Scholars as Learners (SAL2) program. The program offers coaching, leadership training, and community-building opportunities for faculty.
She will also oversee training for department chairs and faculty leaders, contribute to faculty search processes, and examine best practices across peer institutions to support faculty development at Yale.
“In my role at the Jackson School, I have learned a great deal and have enjoyed working with colleagues there,” Gandhi said. “I see this new role within FAS as a great opportunity to learn more about another part of Yale and to think hard about how we can best support faculty in their commitments as researchers, but also as teachers, mentors, and leaders.”
Gandhi’s research focuses on authoritarian regimes and democratic transitions. She is the author of Political Institutions Under Dictatorship (2009), and her recent work examines transitional justice and human rights, including studies in Argentina. Her scholarship analyzes how autocratic systems consolidate power and how opposition movements respond.
She was named the Howard Wang ’95 professor of Global Affairs and Political Science in 2025 and elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences the same year. Gandhi has also delivered keynote addresses internationally on authoritarianism and political economy.
At Yale, she teaches courses in political science and global affairs, covering political institutions, comparative politics, and dictatorships.
Gandhi holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in political science from New York University.
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