Edward A. Snyder Begins Term as Dean

Edward A. Snyder has assumed the role of Dean and William S. Beinecke Professor of Economics and Management at the Yale School of Management, starting on July 1, 2011.

Snyder is an accomplished business school dean, having previously served in that role at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. He is an economist with expertise in industrial organization and antitrust economics. (Read more about his background.)

Yale University President Richard C. Levin announced Snyder’s appointment in 2010. At the time, he said: “Ted Snyder is widely regarded as the most successful business school dean in the nation. He brings experience, enthusiasm, and vision to the Yale School of Management, and he looks forward to maintaining the school’s tradition of preparing students for leadership in business and society by raising their awareness of the context in which business operates.“

Snyder succeeds Sharon M. Oster, who has served as dean since 2008 and will return to the Yale SOM faculty and resume her role as a teacher and scholar.

Snyder made the following statement upon beginning his term as dean of the Yale School of Management:

I first became interested in coming to the Yale School of Management because I think this school is phenomenally well positioned to train the kinds of leaders the world needs for the balance of this century. Most business schools focus on teaching two main areas: on the one hand, how to lead organizations, networks, and teams, and, on the other hand, markets and competition. But with the growing complexity of the world—a complexity which is manifestly evident in the spheres of trade, technology, and manufacturing, but also extends to the growing role of social networks, the development of myriad forms of social enterprise, and the tensions within and between market economies—no leader can run an enterprise without understanding the broad context. We need to teach what I am calling a third competency, which is an ability to take in this big-picture, societal context and integrate it into your thinking and decisions.

Yale has always taken a broad view of businesses, organizations, and government, as reflected in the school’s mission to educate leaders for business and society. As a result, it attracts students and faculty who are broad minded and intellectually curious—the kind of people who are eager and ready to draw the connections between industries and sectors, to spot the big trends that will shape our lives, and to ask the right questions at the right moment.

Furthermore, Yale SOM’s ties to its parent institution, Yale University, are a distinctive advantage in this regard. The school is closely connected to Yale University, both in terms of its mission and philosophy, and in terms of its programs and people. I think being engaged in the life of an eminent university is one of the best ways to cultivate the breadth of awareness and the questioning habits of mind that business leaders need.

Sharon Oster’s deanship has placed this school on a strong foundation. The faculty has strengthened in her time as dean. The Yale integrated curriculum, introduced five years ago, has been refined and made more robust. The school’s magnificent new campus, Edward P. Evans Hall, is under construction. The sense of community has never been stronger. My first crucial task is to listen, to better understand this institution and its people, to test ideas.  I want the entire Yale community to be involved in helping the school advance, build its influence, and ultimately further its mission of serving business and society.

The Yale School of Management will play an increasingly important role in the years ahead, and I am thrilled to be a part of that.