Peter Salovey, PhD

Dr Peter Salovey opens in new tab/window was the 23rd president of Yale University and is the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology. His presidential term lasted 11 years, from 2013 to 2024. After receiving an AB in Psychology and an AM in Sociology from Stanford University in 1980 with departmental honors and university distinction, President Salovey earned his doctorate in psychology at Yale in 1986, focusing on clinical, social, and health psychology.

Prior to his presidency, he served as Yale’s provost, dean of Yale College, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and chair of the Department of Psychology. President Emeritus Salovey has authored or edited more than a dozen books translated into 11 languages and has published hundreds of journal articles and essays. With John D Mayer, he developed a broad framework called “Emotional Intelligence,” the theory that people have a wide range of measurable emotional skills that profoundly affect their thinking and action. He and his students also conducted research on the communication of information about health and illness. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine (Institute of Medicine) in 2013. President Salovey won both the William Clyde DeVane Medal for Distinguished Scholarship and Teaching in Yale College and the Lex Hixon '63 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences.