Yale Afternoons with Alison

Welcome to Yale Afternoons with Alison! In this series, Alison Cole ’99, executive director of the YAA, meets with university leaders to learn more about their priorities and how the alumni community can support them. All conversations take place at Rose Alumni House, the alumni association's home and a hub for campus activity. Bring your favorite beverage and enjoy the conversation. 
In this episode, Alison chats with Indy Burke,  Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean of the Yale School of the Environment. Burke shares how the School of the Environment has a structure that supports interdisciplinary work and why Marsh Hall is one of her favorite buildings on campus.
Dr. Indy Burke, the Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean of the Yale School of the Environment, is an ecosystem ecologist whose research has focused on carbon and nitrogen cycling in dryland ecosystems. She received her B.S. in Biology from Middlebury College and her Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Wyoming, and has taught at Colorado State University and the University of Wyoming.  Her work with graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and colleagues has addressed how drylands are influenced by land use management, climatic variability, and regional variability.  She teaches in the fields of environmental science, ecosystem ecology, and biogeochemistry. Dean Burke has received over $20m in grant support for research, and published over 180 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, books, and reports. Burke has served as a member of several National Research Council (NRC) committees to review national environmental research programs and policies, as a member of the NRC Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, on the national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board, and as a member of numerous National Science Foundation, NASA, EPA, and other advisory panels.  She has served on editorial boards for a number of nationally ranked scientific journals.  A respected educator and intellectual leader in the U.S. and internationally, Dean Burke is particularly interested in fostering interdisciplinary scholarship.  She came to F&ES - now the Yale School of the Environment (YSE) - in 2016 from the University of Wyoming, where she was the dean of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, one of the leading institutions in the western U.S. for research, teaching, and outreach on natural resource issues.

Welcome to Yale Afternoons with Alison! In this series, Alison Cole ’99, executive director of the YAA, meets with university leaders to learn more about their priorities and how the alumni community can support them. All conversations take place at Rose Alumni House, the alumni association's home and a hub for campus activity. Bring your favorite beverage and enjoy the conversation. 
In this episode, Alison chats with Julie Zimmerman, Vice Provost for Planetary Solutions. Zimmerman shares how Planetary Solutions is bringing Yale’s community together towards a common goal and invites all alumni to attend Yale @ Climate Week NYC.
Julie Beth Zimmerman is Yale’s inaugural Vice Provost for Planetary Solutions. In this capacity, Julie advances university priorities in the areas of climate and sustainability, overseeing strategies and initiatives that bring the full breadth of Yale’s intellectual and institutional capabilities to bear on the world’s most pressing planetary challenges — including climate change, biodiversity loss, and the social and economic impacts of these interconnected crises.
As Vice Provost for Planetary Solutions, Julie works across the academic, research, and operations communities, and with external partners, to envision and execute a university-wide climate and sustainability portfolio. She provides strategic leadership to drive pioneering, scalable solutions to planetary challenges and accelerate the impact of these solutions in the broader world. Her leadership also extends to campus operations and facilities projects relating to climate and sustainability, partnering with colleagues in Yale Operations and Facilities to ensure that Yale leads by example.
Julie oversees Yale’s cross-school centers related to climate and sustainability, including the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, the Yale Center for Biospheric Studies, and the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions. She also fosters interdisciplinary research through the YPS grants program, the YPS Impact Accelerator, and the YPS Doctoral Fellows program. In this capacity, Julie provides support and guidance to multiple departments and works directly with institutional leadership, deans, Yale Operations and Facilities, Yale Ventures, and faculty, staff, and students throughout Yale.
Julie holds a joint appointment as the Liliane and Christian Haub Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of the Environment (YSE) and serves as the Deputy Director of the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, Julie served as Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at YSE, overseeing the professional master’s degree program, including curriculum, degree requirements, and non-ladder faculty.  In addition, Julie serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Science & Technology, the most highly cited journal in environmental sciences and engineering.
Julie holds an interdisciplinary PhD in Environmental Engineering and Natural Resource Policy from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Yale, Julie served as an Engineer and Program Manager in the Office of Research and Development at the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC. Julie was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2025 and to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2026.

Welcome to Yale Afternoons with Alison! In this series, Alison Cole ’99, executive director of the YAA, meets with university leaders to learn more about their priorities and how the alumni community can support them. All conversations occur at Rose Alumni House, the home of the alumni association and a hub for activity on campus. Bring your favorite beverage and enjoy the conversation. 
In this episode, Alison chats with José García-León, Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of the Yale School of Music. García-León shares how the music school is reaching across the university, and how he stumbled across his favorite New Haven pizza place.
José García-León is the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music at Yale University, a role to which he brings a broad, international perspective and a commitment to more equitably extending the reach of music education. García-León was born in Seville, Spain, where, as an ascendant pianist, he graduated with highest honors from that city’s Conservatorio Superior de Música. He continued his studies in the United States as a scholarship student, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music. His career on stage, launched with a prize-winning performance at the Artist International Competition in New York, has included concerts at such celebrated institutions as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and the St. Petersburg International Music Festival. Endlessly curious and erudite, García-León’s scholarship has explored Spanish folk and classical music, including the influence of popular works on classical traditions, and the beginnings and cultural significance of flamenco music, particularly the distinctions between that style and Argentinian tango. He has given presentations and lecture-recitals in the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America.

In this episode, Alison chats with Pippa Jack, Editor of the Yale Alumni Magazine. Jack provides an overview of her priorities for the magazine and how she is thinking about stewarding the historical publication. 
Jack grew up in Oxford, England, the daughter of two professors: a philosopher from New England and a neuroscientist from New Zealand. In seven years as the editor and publisher of Brown’s magazine, a 125-year-old publication with a proud tradition of editorial excellence, she increased digital engagement through an award-winning new website and e-newsletter, and grew revenue. In 2024, she led the print magazine to top honors from CASE (the Council on Advancement and Support of Education), winning the national “gold” award among alumni magazines publishing three or more issues annually.
Previously, Jack was editor-in-chief of the University of Rhode Island Magazine, where she led a redesign and rebrand to help the magazine adapt to shifting technologies and reading habits. She also held senior editorial positions at Rhode Island Monthly magazine and the Block Island Times.
Jack attended Oxford University, where she studied classics, and later earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder.

In this episode, Alison chats with Gregory E. Sterling, Dean of Yale Divinity School; The Reverend Henry L. Slack Dean and Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament. Sterling provides an overview of his priorities for the Divinity School, including the new Living Village's transformation of the campus.  
Gregory E. Sterling has served as The Reverend Henry L. Slack Dean and Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School since 2012. In October 2021, Yale President Peter Salovey announced Sterling’s appointment for a third five-year term, beginning July 1, 2022.
Sterling is the former Dean of the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame, where he also served on the faculty for 23 years.
During his decade-plus at YDS, Sterling has been a leading theological and moral voice for addressing inequality and injustice in society. Amid an urgent national reckoning with racism, he and the Divinity School have tripled the number of faculty from underrepresented groups and doubled the number of staff and students from diverse backgrounds. In addition, he has led efforts to put in place curricular and operational infrastructure to ensure an experience of inclusion and belonging for the entire YDS community.
Sterling has worked to provide increased support for students so that graduates can pursue careers and vocations based on their calling and not financial constraints. In 2022, the School achieved its goal to cover all tuition costs, and some living expenses, for students with demonstrated need.
Sterling has also led efforts to create the Living Village for student housing, a visionary project that is designed to be the education sector’s largest living-building residential complex and a model for the nation and the world. Construction is underway with a planned opening date of August 2025. The regenerative housing project follows efforts led by the Dean to upgrade the YDS Quad, and to renovate and restore the historic Common Room and Refectory in the northeast corner of the Divinity School campus.  
In addition, Sterling was instrumental in creating the historic merger of Yale Divinity School and Andover Newton Theological School, which led to Andover Newton’s relocation to Yale and the continuation of its mission at YDS.
In his teaching and research, Sterling focuses on Hellenistic Judaism and has published over 110 scholarly papers on, among other subjects, Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, and Luke–Acts. He has focused on the ways Second Temple Jews and early Christians interacted with one another and with the Greco-Roman world. Sterling is the author of Historiography and Self-Definition: Josephus, Luke-Acts, and Apologetic Historiography, Armenian Paradigms, Coptic Paradigms: A Summary of Sahidic Coptic Morphology, and Shaping the Past to Define the Present: Luke-Acts and Apologetic Historiography, and he is the editor or co-editor of five other books.
Sterling is the General Editor of Philo of Alexandria Commentary series published by E. J. Brill, the Co-Editor of the Studia Philonica Annual, and on the editorial board of Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft. 
Sterling received his bachelor’s degree in Christianity and History from Houston Baptist University in 1978 and completed post-baccalaureate studies in classics at Houston Baptist the following year. He received an M.A. in Religion from Pepperdine University in 1980 and an M.A. in Classics from University of California, Davis, in 1982. In 1990, he completed his doctoral studies in Biblical Studies with a specialization in the New Testament from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
Sterling joined the faculty at the University of Notre Dame in 1989 as a Visiting Assistant Professor and became a regular member of the faculty in 1990, earning promotion to Associate Professor in 1995 and to Professor of Theology in 2000. Sterling became Associate Dean of the Faculty for the College of Arts and Letters in 2001 and then Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Notre Dame in 2008 and served in that role until coming to Yale in 2012.
He has held numerous leadership positions in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, and the Catholic Biblical Association. He is a minister in the Churches of Christ and serves in several leadership roles for his own denomination.

In this episode, Alison chats with Victoria “Vicky” Chun, Thomas A. Beckett Director of Athletics. Chun shares how her role at Yale has evolved and grown as she supports excellence in athletics at every level, from rec sports to varsity. 
Victoria M. "Vicky" Chun, a true trailblazer in the world of collegiate athletics, was appointed as the Thomas A. Beckett Director of Athletics at Yale University by President Peter Salovey on February 1, 2018. Her official tenure with the Bulldogs began on July 1 of the same year. Chun made history as both the first woman and the first Asian American to hold this position.
Since assuming her role, Chun has exhibited dynamic leadership and unwavering dedication to Yale Athletics. Her innovative approach to the challenges of NCAA Division I athletics has earned her past recognition as a "Game Changer" by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal.
In July 2024, Chun was appointed to serve on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and will serve through August 31, 2029.
She also serves on the Visiting Committee for Student Life at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 
In March 2023, Chun was bestowed with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year award, lauding her as a thought leader and decision maker in the world of college athletics. It was the second time she received this honor, the first being in 2018 while serving as the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Colgate University. Chun became the first Director of Athletics to win at two different institutions within the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) since the award’s inception in 1998.
Yale Athletics has reached remarkable heights since her appointment including 11 national championships, 38 Ivy League titles, 57 major individual year-end Ivy League awards, 61 team national championship/tournament appearances, 144 All-Americans, and 86 NCAA individual qualifiers. Her commitment to holistic success is evident in the recognition of over 180 Academic All-Ivy student-athletes during her tenure, and the elevation of Yale's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
During Chun’s first five years, she oversaw the complete revitalization of the athletic department’s facilities, including more than $100 million in new construction and renovation projects.

In this episode, Alison chats with Azita Emami, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean of the Yale School of Nursing. Dean Emami shares how the Nursing School is evolving, innovating, and focusing on its legacy of impactful research to improve the health of all people. 
Dr. Azita Emami joined the Yale School of Nursing as Dean in 2023. She is an active researcher, an international advocate for expanding nursing’s role in primary care, and a powerful voice for global equity of healthcare access. 
Dean Emami serves as a trustee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and on several professional boards and committees. She was a U.S. leader of the international Nursing Now initiative, a three-year global campaign (2018-2020) in collaboration with the International Council of Nurses and the World Health Organization that raised the visibility, status, and education opportunities of nurses worldwide. She also led the U.S. “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife” effort (2021), part of a global U.N. initiative.
Equity of opportunity in nursing education is a focal point for Dean Emami, who has been a national leader in developing efforts directed at making diversity, equity and inclusion a priority at schools of nursing. She initiated creation of the nation’s first Center for Antiracism in Nursing, and has written and spoken in numerous professional settings about the ways in which both patients and the profession benefit from understanding and addressing implicit bias and historical racism.
Dr. Emami has forged strong relationships and collaborative exchanges with nursing programs in many countries, including Thailand and China. She fosters in both faculty and students a perspective that encourages global engagement and emphasizes the importance of understanding impact on health outcomes of the social determinants of health.
Dr. Emami earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the renowned Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, where she grew up after emigrating from Iran. She earned a master’s degree in international health care from Karolinska and the Red Cross College of Nursing; a nursing education degree with a teaching certification, and a doctorate in medical sciences from Karolinska. 
The Dean’s academic leadership experience spans two countries and 25 years, including positions as Executive Dean of the University of Washington School of Nursing, Dean of the College of Nursing at Seattle University, Head of the Division of Nursing in the Department of Neurobiology Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, and Academic Leader in the Division of Elderly Care in the Department of Nursing at the Karolinska Institutet.
Dr. Emami maintains an active research schedule, with collaborations around the world. Her research reflects her interest in topics ranging from dementia care, challenges in cross-cultural care, and immigrant healthcare policy to the development of cultural competence in clinical nurses. She is internationally recognized for her innovative research on dementia, including development of an oral data collection method for a biomarker of stress. Her research has resulted in more than 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals nationally and internationally. 

In this episode, Alison chats with Rachel Fine, Executive Director of Yale Schwarzman Center. Rachel shares how the Schwarzman Center has become a cohesive hub for the entire Yale community.   
Rachel Fine joined Yale Schwarzman Center as executive director in October 2022, following her tenure as executive director and CEO of the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
Fine commenced work at The Wallis in its first 18 months of operation, following a 19-year capital campaign and building project to convert the historic Beverly Hills Post Office into a vibrant cultural hub and performing arts campus for Southern California. Between 2015 and 2022, she established The Wallis as a major player and leading cultural organization in Los Angeles' burgeoning arts scene; built dynamic artistic partnerships and projects between The Wallis and Los Angeles' cultural organizations; demonstrated deep dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion and access;  launched and implemented a $55 million campaign, which more than doubled the organization's endowment and established a healthy cash reserve in the campaign's first year; and steered and managed The Wallis successfully through the pandemic.
Also a concert pianist, Fine attended the Music Academy of the West and Eastman School of Music. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Irvine, and received the Distinguished Alumna Award from UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Other educational pursuits led her to Yale for graduate school, where she studied musicology, and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where she was an arts management fellow.
Prior to her tenure at The Wallis, Fine was executive director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (2010-2015) and Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (2007-2010). In 2009, she founded and built the Los Angeles Children's Chorus' Young Men's Ensemble, a rare chorus for boys with changing voices, and which has toured the United States, Canada, Cuba, Vatican City, and Mexico City.
With the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Fine introduced and produced “Play Me, I'm Yours,” a citywide piano installation and community art project. She also conceived and produced Strad Fest, a weeklong international festival of Stradivarius violins. Additionally, Fine has held leadership positions at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, Aspen Music Festival, Santa Fe Opera, and The Juilliard School, among others.

In this episode, Alison chats with Megan L. Ranney, Dean of Yale School of Public Health and C.-E. A. Winslow Professor of Public Health (Health Policy) and Professor of Emergency Medicine. Dean Ranney shares how the School of Public Health is evolving and how the alumni community can get involved.
Dr. Megan L. Ranney is an emergency physician, researcher, and internationally recognized leader in public health innovation. She is the inaugural Dean of the independent Yale School of Public Health, and the C.-E. A. Winslow Professor of Public Health and Professor of Emergency Medicine at Yale. Dr. Ranney earned her MD from Columbia University, MPH from Brown University, and a BA in history of science from Harvard University. She completed her emergency medicine residency and injury prevention fellowship at Brown.
Dr. Ranney’s career has been shaped by her front-line experience with many of the world’s most pressing health crises, as well as her scientific and programmatic leadership in community-based responses. She is best known for her work addressing firearm injury as a public health issue. Her honors include election to the National Academy of Medicine, Fellowship in the American College of Emergency Physicians, and recognition as an Aspen Institute Health Innovator Fellow.
Dr. Ranney is the founder of two successful non-profits and has helped shape bipartisan policy through her advisory work with the U.S. Surgeon General, the White House, and state leaders across multiple presidential administrations.

In this episode, Alison chats with Barbara Rockenbach, Stephen F. Gates ’68 University Librarian, and learns how alumni can engage with the Yale library system.
Barbara Rockenbach is the Stephen F. Gates ’68 University Librarian at Yale University. Rockenbach has held a series of user-focused positions in the Columbia University Library, the Yale University Library, and JSTOR. The focus of her work has been on the intersection of collections, technology, and pedagogy, including advancing research and learning through visual literacy, research education, and digital humanities. She has published and presented in these areas and serves as a board member of the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, positions that amplify her commitment to public scholarship. Rockenbach holds an MS in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh, an MA in Art History from Hunter College, and a BA in English from the University of Illinois.