Thomas Near named Saybrook master

Photo by Alexandra Schmeling.

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Thomas Near will be the next master of Saybrook College, University President Peter Salovey announced to a crowd of students Friday evening in the colleges dining hall.

Near will succeed Paul Hudak, who will step down at the end of this academic year. Amid applause from the roughly 200 Saybrugians, Salovey and Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway lauded Near for his research on fish and already-proven commitment to the Saybrook community as a fellow of the college. Nears five-year term will start on July 1.

I, like you, started at Yale as a Saybrugian, Near said. There will be time for us to get to know each other. There will be time for us to share our stories with one another.

Near came to Yale in 2006 after teaching for three years at the University of Tennessee. He currently serves as the director of undergraduate studies in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, in addition to being the associate curator of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. Near, who teaches the course Ichthyology, focuses on fish in his research and has led a Yale Summer Session class on the topic.

Lets hear it for fish! Salovey enthused, drawing cheers from the audience.

Near has won many research and teaching awards, most recently the Northern Illinois University College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Golden Anniversary Alumni Award in 2009.

Nears wife, Allison Near, who practices criminal law in her own New Haven firm, will join her husband as Saybrooks associate master. The couple has two daughters, Alice and Rebecca, who will be three and five when they move into the masters house this summer.

Before introducing Near, Salovey took a moment to acknowledge Hudaks years of dedicated service. Hudak, who was diagnosed with leukemia several years ago, announced in December that he would depart at the end of this year due to health concerns. A Yale faculty member since 1982, Hudak told the college that while he had hoped to serve for longer, he no longer feels able to bring Saybrook as much vibrancy and energy as he would like.

Hudaks wife Cathy Van Dyke SOM 86 spoke briefly on his behalf.

Originally posted here:
Thomas Near named Saybrook master