Dear Members of the Yale Community,
We write to announce that Yale is creating endowment funds totaling $250 million to support the development of future leaders in medicine, nursing, and public health. For the past two years, the pandemic has placed enormous strain on the workforce in these fields and increased the need for public health experts and health care professionals worldwide. Health professionals—including our colleagues from the Yale School of Medicine (YSM), School of Nursing (YSN), and School of Public Health (YSPH)—have worked with great fortitude and dedication to save lives; develop COVID vaccines, treatments, and tests; and inform health policy. Their expertise will be even more critical as we recover from this pandemic and prepare to face adverse health effects from new and existing infectious and chronic diseases, health care inequities, resource scarcity, and other pressing challenges. Yale is committed to help address global demand for leaders who can guide individuals and communities to better health.
Over the next five years, Yale will provide a total of $150 million of endowment to match endowment funds that will be raised by YSM, YSN, and YSPH. Each school will receive up to $50 million in such matching funds. This investment will support financial aid and other educational initiatives at the three schools. It also will address some of the challenges made salient by the pandemic, including shortages of health professionals and the need for increased diversity in medicine, nursing, and public health. The distribution from these endowed funds will enhance scholarships and thereby increase access to Yale’s three professional schools focused on improving health, fostering advancements in health equity, and enhancing the quality of health care for everyone.
Yale also will provide a one-time $100 million addition to YSPH’s endowment to eliminate its structural deficit and the subsidy it receives from YSM. As we announced to the YSPH community this afternoon, the university will reorganize YSPH as a free-standing professional school rather than as a department within YSM. These endowment funds will be made available upon the arrival of its next dean, at which point the school will have autonomous responsibility for its budget. At this historic moment, Yale will help the school build on its immense contributions to public health over the past century. The changes ahead will support YSPH in transforming local and global health through innovative and collaborative education, research, and practice.
As we emerge from the present public health crisis, we can create a more resilient and equitable future by supporting the next generation of health professionals. The university’s commitment to develop future leaders in nursing, medicine, and public health will benefit not only the residents of this country but the well-being of everyone around the globe.