Yale SOM Appoints New Faculty Leadership

Two Yale School of Management faculty members, Katja Seim and Sang Kim, have been appointed to leadership roles in which they will guide faculty hiring, research initiatives, executive education, and other critical functions, effective July 1, 2025. Edieal Pinker, who has served as deputy dean since 2016, will continue to provide strategic guidance as a special advisor to the dean. Heather Tookes, deputy dean for faculty since 2022, will return full-time to the faculty.

“We have a tremendous team in place for this essential role of guiding, strengthening, and supporting our faculty, both individually and collectively. They will ensure Yale SOM research and instruction continue to advance knowledge and shine light on critical issues for business and society,” said Kerwin Charles, the Indra K. Nooyi Dean and Frederick W. Beinecke Professor of Economics, Policy, and Management. “I look forward to working closely with the new leadership team. I also want to convey my deepest thanks to Heather Tookes, whose unstinting efforts over the last three years have exemplified the highest standards of our profession.”

Katja Seim, the newly named deputy dean for faculty, is also the Sharon Oster Professor of Economics and Management. In her new role, Seim will oversee matters related to faculty hiring, retention, and promotion, as well as faculty mentoring and development. She will also work to support and further the research agendas of individual faculty members. Seim joined the Yale SOM faculty in 2019 after previously teaching at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and serving as the chief economist to the Federal Communications Commission. Her research focuses on topics of industrial organization, regulation, and antitrust.

Seim said she appreciates this opportunity to support the leadership of SOM and to advance the excellent work of her fellow faculty members. “I am excited to build on Heather Tookes’s deep commitment to supporting and promoting our exceptional faculty, who are the cornerstone of Yale SOM’s vibrant academic climate,” she said. “Their expertise and dedication have been instrumental in our growth and success, and I look forward to advancing their continued achievements in research and teaching, especially among our junior faculty.”

Sang Kim, professor of operations management, has been named to the new position of senior associate dean for centers and executive programs. In this role, he will provide guidance on a number of faculty-led and faculty-supported activities at the school, including centers, curriculum management and development, executive education, and the MBA for Executives program. He will also manage non-ladder faculty hiring. Kim is a longtime member of the Yale SOM faculty who specializes in supply chain management, service operations, and business model innovations.

“I am very much looking forward to working alongside Dean Kerwin Charles and the new Deputy Dean Katja Seim,” said Kim. “Heather Tookes and Edi Pinker have laid a strong foundation that has contributed to the school’s continued success in advancing its mission. I recognize that I have big shoes to fill, and with input from faculty, students, staff, and alumni, I hope to identify opportunities for further improvement and introduce fresh ideas that will elevate SOM to the next level of excellence.”

In his new position as special advisor to the dean, Edieal Pinker will continue to provide guidance and direction on issues that affect the whole school and on strategic questions as they arise. Pinker, the BearingPoint Professor of Operations Research, will also continue to facilitate the activities of The Broad Center and two collaborations with the School of Engineering and Applied Science—the MBA-MS joint degree and the Master’s in Technology Management. Pinker said that he “looks forward to continuing to assist Dean Charles in advancing his agenda for SOM.”