Introduction

Yale University is an Ivy League research university in Connecticut, United States. It is one of the world’s most famous and prestigious universities and traces its roots back to 1701 when it was founded as the Yale Collegiate School. It is the third-oldest higher education institution in the United States behind Harvard University (1636) and The College of William and Mary (1693).

Yale University Senior Leadership

Yale is led and overseen by President Peter Salovey along with the university’s board of trustees. Together, these people comprise Yale’s governing and policy-making body known as the ‘Yale Corporation’. 

The Yale Corporation is the university’s main governing body. The trustees act as fiduciaries and are responsible for ensuring that Yale’s academic and administrative leadership are led by strong policies and practices. The trustees are also responsible for ensuring that the university’s academic and administrative leaders are equipped with adequate resources to further its mission. 

Yale University is also led by the University Cabinet who assist and support the Yale Corporation. The Yale University Cabinet is an advisory body led by President Peter Salovey which consists of Yale’s school deans, vice presidents, other senior members of faculty, and administrative leaders.

Yale University’s organizational structure

It can be said that Yale University operates with a functional organizational structure. This is because the organization is clearly divided into areas based on functional roles, notably:

• The Board of Trustees (Yale Corporation)
• The University Cabinet (Functional roles)
  • Senior Vice President for Operations
  • Individual deans of school 
  • Vice President for Global Strategy
  • Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer
  • Vice President for Communications
  • Vice President for Alumni Affairs & Development
  • Vice President for Human Resources
  • Vice President for University Life
  • Legal (General Counsel)
  • Chief Investment Officer 

Each member of the Yale University Cabinet leads their own team of staff who are specialists in their respective fields and are responsible for leading their specialist departments. 

Let’s use Yale University’s Human Resources department as an example. This is led by the Vice President for Human Resources John Whelan who was appointed to his role in August 2021. He oversees the recruitment and retention of Yale faculty and support staff who advance the university’s mission and ensure an inclusive, diverse, and supportive environment in which all employees feel a sense of belonging. 

Below Whelan are several high-level human resources professionals who oversee their own departments within the functional HR bubble. These are:

• Associate Vice President and Senior Advisor for HR, Donna Cable
• Associate Vice President for Union Management and Strategic Initiative, Jane Savage
• Assistant Vice President for Employee Relations and Staffing, Geraldine Sullivan
• Senior Director for Human Resources Operations, Susan Riggs
• Senior Advisor for Benefits Planning, Hugh Penney
• Chief Diversity Officer and Director for Diversity and Inclusion, Deborah Stanley-McAuley

Functional organizational structures make sense for organizations with highly diverse and specialized operations such as Yale University. The key benefit of functional organizational structures is that rather than everything being led by a few individual executives, managers and teams have more strategic control across their own areas of expertise.

Learn more about organizational charts:

Want to learn more about organizational charts? They play a bigger role in organizational success than you might think!  

Here are some helpful blog resources that you can start with:

• What Are Organizational Charts?
• The Chain of Command & Why It’s Important
• What is a Functional Organizational Structure?

Create this chart in Organimi! 

You can download the CSV file of Yale University’s org structure, import it into Organimi and start editing this chart right away! Here’s how:

1.  From your dashboard, select Data Import.
2.  Click the CSV tile.
3.  Click +Upload Your File.   
4. Select an Excel file from your device.
5.  In the Organization field, click the down arrow to select an organization.
6. Click Create a New Chart
7. Click Next and select: Organization Chart
8. Select the auto-build tool to automatically build your chart.
9. Voila!

Download CSV file:
Yale (27.38 KB)