Sterling Professor

History

The professorships are named for and funded by a $15-million bequest left by John W. Sterling, partner in the New York law firm Shearman & Sterling and an 1864 graduate of Yale College. In addition to funding large number of campus buildings like the Sterling Memorial Library, the bequest required "to some extent, the foundation of Scholarships, Fellowships or Lectureships, the endowment of new professorships and the establishment of special funds for prizes." Sterling's trustees eventually left the university more than $5 million for this purpose—about $225,000 per chair.

The first Sterling Professor was chemist John Johnston, who was awarded the rank in 1920, and was joined later that year by school administrator Frank E. Spaulding, biochemist Lafayette Mendel, and astronomer Ernest William Brown. By the mid-1920s, the endowment allowed eighteen Sterling Professors to be appointed. In 1958, the Yale Corporation capped the number of simultaneous appointments at 27, but further endowment growth allowed this number to expand to 40 by 2011. In addition to currently appointed faculty, a number of former Sterling Professors retain emeritus appointments at the university and continue to teach.

The first woman to be named Sterling Professor was cell biologist Marilyn Farquhar, in 1987. After Farquhar left Yale in 1989, Middle English scholar Marie Borroff and geneticist Carolyn Slayman were the next women appointed, in 1991. Among the youngest appointees were John Farquhar Fulton, made Sterling Professor of Physiology in 1929 at age 30, and later-U.S Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, appointed in 1932 at the age of 33. Joan Steitz and Thomas Steitz, biochemists appointed in 1999 and 2001 respectively, were the first married couple to have both held the appointment. In 2021, Michael Della Rocca and Christine Hayes, professors of philosophy and religious studies, respectively, became the second married couple to be named Sterling Professors.

List of Sterling Professors

Current

Emeritus

Left

Deceased

Notes

References

References

1. Dockendorf, Jay. (January 21, 2011). "The Sterling Professors of Yale: Evolution of a species". [[Yale Daily News]].
2. (July 26, 1918). "The Sterling Bequest to Yale University". Science.
3. Fellman, Bruce. (February 1999). "How Sterling Professors Get That Way".
4. (April 22, 1921). "University and Educational News". Science.
5. Hicks, Frederick C.. (1930). "Review: 'John William Sterling'". Yale Law Journal.
6. Wang 12:33, Sophie. (2021-12-01). "Catching up with Michael Della Rocca, Yale's newest Sterling Professor of Philosophy".
7. (November 2012). "Rolena Adorno Named Sterling Professor of Spanish". Yale News.
8. Tam, Derek. (November 7, 2008). "Amar Earns Sterling Rank". Yale Daily News.
9. (2018-11-07). "Elijah Anderson appointed Sterling Professor of Sociology". YaleNews.
10. (May 2012). "More News of Yale People".
11. (May 30, 2005). "R. Howard Bloch appointed Sterling Professor of French". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
12. (May 19, 2006). "David Bromwich appointed Sterling Professor of English". Yale Bulletin & Calendar.
13. (2019-07-10). "David Blight appointed Sterling Professor".
14. (May 10, 2021). "Casetti named Sterling Professor of Humanities and Film and Media Studies". YaleNews.
15. (2018-07-23). "Dr. Nicholas A. Christakis named Sterling Professor". YaleNews.
16. (2021-05-10). "Ronald Coifman appointed the Sterling Professor of Mathematics".
17. (2021-10-26). "Della Rocca named Sterling Professor of Philosophy".
18. (January 21, 2011). "Michael Donaghue Designated Sterling Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology". YaleNews.
19. (June 4, 2004). "Flavell to hold Sterling chair in immunology". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
20. (2022-08-18). "Alan Gerber named Sterling Professor of Political Science".
21. "Steven Girvin {{!}} Department of Physics".
22. (March 2, 2011). "Yale Literary Scholar Awarded National Humanities Medal". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
23. (October 19, 2007). "Horwich appointed to Sterling Professorship". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
24. (May 15, 2009). "William L. Jorgensen Has Been Appointed as Sterling Professor of Chemistry". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
25. (January 23, 2013). "Harold Hongju Koh Named Sterling Professor of International Law". Yale Law School.
26. (June 4, 2004). "Kronman Named Sterling Professor of Law". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
27. (September 12, 2003). "While You Were Away: The Summer's Top Stories Revisited". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
28. "New Appointments".
29. (May 16, 2008). "Mary E. Miller named Sterling Professor of the History of Art". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
30. "Scott Miller named Sterling Professor of Chemistry".
31. (March 2, 2001). "Nordhaus is Sterling Professor of Economics". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
32. Telford, Taylor. "William Nordhaus and Paul Romer win Nobel Prize in economics". [[The Washington Post]].
33. (January 13, 2006). "Dr. Thomas D. Pollard named Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
34. (15 May 2017). "Robert Post designated Sterling Professor of Law". Yale News.
35. (2018-07-19). "Anna Marie Pyle appointed Sterling Professor". YaleNews.
36. (May 19, 2006). "David Louis Quint named Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
37. Lalwani, Nikita. (June 21, 2011). "First Woman at Law School Appointed Sterling Professor". Yale Daily News.
38. (June 8, 2011). "Roberta Romano '80 Appointed Sterling Professor of Law; Henry Hansmann '74 Named Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law". Yale Law School.
39. (April 11, 2017). "James Rothman appointed Sterling Professor of Cell Biology". YaleNews.
40. (April 1, 2013). "Robert Schoelkopf is named Sterling Professor of Applied Physics and Physics". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
41. (May 20, 2005). "Ian Shapiro appointed Sterling Professor of Political Science". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
42. (April 1, 2003). "Robert Shiller named to Sterling Professorship". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
43. (2018-07-19). "Daniel Spielman designated Sterling Professor of Computer Science". YaleNews.
44. (January 13, 2006). "Dieter Söll named Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
45. (October 23, 1998). "Molecular geneticist Joan A. Steitz is named Sterling Professor". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
46. (2018-07-23). "Ruth Yeazell named as Sterling Professor of English". YaleNews.
47. (2022-02-25). "Iwasaki Is Named a Sterling Professor". Yale School of Medicine.
48. (2024-11-22). "Peter Salovey Named Sterling Professor of Psychology". Yale News.
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50. (February 1, 2008). "New Endowed Chair Honors Marie Borroff". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
51. (March 2, 2001). "Brooks appointed to Sterling Professorship". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
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53. (January 17, 1997). "Guido Calabresi to Give 1997 DeVane Lectures". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
54. "Curriculum Vitae: Mirjan R. Damaška".
55. Koh, Harold Hongju. (2008). "Crime, Procedure and Evidence in a Comparative and International Context". Bloombury.
56. (March 21, 2003). "Event focuses on legal scholarship of Owen Fiss". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
57. Geibel, John. (2002). "Gerhard Giebisch". Kidney International.
58. (2021-04-12). "Christine Hayes appointed the Sterling Professor of Religious Studies".
59. (January 21, 2011). "Marcia Johnson is named Sterling Professor of Psychology". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
60. (January 15, 2020). "Alice Kaplan appointed Sterling Professor of French". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
61. (June 6, 2015). "Alan Kazdin appointed Sterling Professor of Psychology". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
62. Gould, Lewis L.. (2000). "Clio's Favorites: Leading Historians of the United States, 1945–2000". University of Missouri Press.
63. (October 26, 2001). "Legal scholar John Langbein is named Sterling Professor". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communication.
64. (January 18, 1999). "Two faculty members are honored with Sterling Professorships". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
65. (June 7, 2002). "Peter Moore Is Appointed to Sterling Chair". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
66. (May 4, 2001). "Patterson has been appointed Sterling Professor of English". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
67. (2012). "Recent advances in panel data, nonlinear and nonparametric models: A festschrift in honor of Peter C.B. Phillips". Journal of Econometrics.
68. (May 16, 2008). "Joseph Roach appointed Sterling Professor of Theater". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
69. Weiss, Samuel. (June 19, 2002). "Retirement Rules Gone, the Ivory Tower Goes Gray". New York Times.
70. (2003). "The International Who's Who 2004". Europa Publications.
71. (January 13, 2006). "John C. Tully named Sterling Professor of Chemistry". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
72. (May 4, 2001). "Cott named to Sterling Chair in History, American Studies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
73. (October 22, 1993). "A Prominent Chemist Returns from Columbia to Yale". Columbia University.
74. Lentz, Thomas L.. (June 2011). "History of the Department of Cell Biology at Yale School of Medicine, 1813–2010". Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.
75. (October 26, 2001). "Lifton named as Sterling Professor of Genetics". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communication.
76. (December 13, 2002). "Mellman Awarded Sterling Post in Cell Biology". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
77. (October 26, 2021). "Hammes-Schiffer named Sterling Professor of Chemistry". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
78. "Menachem Elimelech to join Rice University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering {{!}} George R. Brown School of Engineering {{!}} Rice University".
79. "Menachem Elimelech".
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82. (1998). "Biographical Memoir of Frank Ambrose Beach: 1911–1988". National Academy of Sciences.
83. Hench, John B.. (October 1973). "Samuel Flagg Bemis". Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society.
84. (November 3, 1987). "Thomas G. Bergin, 82, An Authority on Dante". New York Times.
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86. "Guide to the Alexandar Mordecai Bickel Papers".
87. (January 2006). "Boris I. Bittker, 1916–2005".
88. "Guide to the Boris I. Bittker Papers".
89. (May 18, 2001). "Noted legal scholar and humanist Charles L. Black Jr. dies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
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93. (February 18, 2005). "In Memoriam: D. Allan Bromley, nuclear physicist and presidential adviser". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
94. "Guide to the Charles Frederick Tucker Brooke Papers".
95. (1939). "Biographical Memoir of Earnest William Brown: 1866–1938". National Academy of Sciences.
96. Waggoner, Walter H.. (September 30, 1983). "Rev. R. L. Calhoun, A Professor, Dies". New York Times.
97. (August 31, 2007). "In Memoriam: Brevard S. Childs". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
98. "Guide to the Charles Edward Clark Papers".
99. (October 20, 2000). "Donald Cohen named Sterling Professor of Child Psychiatry". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
100. Goode, Erica. (October 4, 2001). "Donald J. Cohen, 61, Dies; Changed Field of Child Psychiatry". New York Times.
101. "Guide to the Wilbur Lucius Cross Papers".
102. (September 1, 1997). "Donald M. Crothers named as Sterling Professor of Chemistry". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
103. Fait, Ben. (March 28, 2014). "Longtime Yale Biochemist Dies". Yale Daily News.
104. MacCallum, W. G.. (March 2018). "Biographical Memoir of Harvey Cushing: 1869–1939". National Academy of Sciences.
105. (May 15, 2014). "Memorial service for Professor Robert Dahl on May 29". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
106. Martin, Douglas. (February 7, 2014). "Robert A. Dahl Dies at 98; Yale Scholar Defined Politics and Power". New York Times.
107. "David Brion Davis".
108. (December 8, 2000). "Czech Republic honors Demetz for scholarship". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
109. (April 14, 2000). "Leonard S. Doob, a specialist on ways of resolving conflict, dies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
110. Murphy, Bruce Allen. (2003). "Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas".
111. "Guide to the Joannes Gregorius Dusser de Barenne Papers".
112. (November 2, 2001). "Influential physician Dr. Alvan Feinstein dies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
113. Waggoner, Walter H.. (September 16, 1983). "Wiliam J. Fellner Dies at 77; Economics Professor at Yale". New York Times.
114. "Guide to the Albert Gabriel Feuillerat Papers".
115. Anellis, Irving H.. (2005). "[[The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers]]". [[Bloomsbury Publishing]].
116. Coplan, Michael A.. (1997). "Raymond Matthew Fuoss". National Academies Press.
117. "Guide to the Ralph Henry Gabriel Papers".
118. "Guide to the John Gassner Papers".
119. (2004). "Peter Gay: A Brief Biography". American Council of Learned Societies.
120. Waters, Anthony Jon. "For Grant Gilmore". Maryland Law Review.
121. Finkelstein, Jacob J.. (1972). "Albrecht Goetze, 1897–1971". Journal of the American Oriental Society.
122. (August 23, 2005). "YLS Mourns Death of Abraham S. Goldstein; Memorial Service Planned Nov. 6". Yale Law School.
123. (October 1, 1989). "Ross G. Harrison, Yale Zoologist, 89". New York Times.
124. Fox, Margalit. (March 20, 2016). "Geoffrey H. Hartman, Scholar Who Saw Literary Criticism as Art, Dies at 86". New York Times.
125. (April 6, 1988). "Eric A. Havelock, 84, Professor of Classics". New York Times.
126. Sammons, Jeffery L.. (1981). "In Memoriam: Heinreich E. K. Henel: 1905–1981". American Council of Learned Societies.
127. Pflanze, Otto P.. (2002). "An Interrupted Past: German-speaking Refugee Historians in the United States after 1933". Cambridge University Press.
128. Grimes, William. (August 18, 2013). "John Hollander, Poet at Ease With Intellectualism and Wit, Dies at 83". New York Times.
129. (1998). "Biographical Memoir of Carl Iver Hovland: 1912–1961". National Academy of Sciences.
130. (April 4, 2003). "Pioneering physicist and Sterling Professor Vernon Hughes dies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
131. (1959). "Biographical Memoir of Clark Leonard Hull: 1884–1952". National Academy of Sciences.
132. "Guide to the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Papers Relating to Rebecca West.".
133. (1952). "Biographical Memoir of Treat Baldwin Johnson: 1875–1947". National Academy of Sciences.
134. Hadley, Arthur Twining. (1920). "Report of the President of Yale University". Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor.
135. (June 7, 2002). "Donald Kagan Is Named Sterling Professor". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
136. Schiff, Judith Ann. (September 2005). "The "Heart of the University" Turns 75". [[Yale Alumni Magazine]].
137. (July 26, 1964). "Kessler Named to New Post in Yale Law Department". New York Times.
138. "Guide to the John Gamble Kirkwood Papers".
139. (July 12, 2012). "Chemistry's newest endowed chair honors pioneering Yale scientist John Gamble Kirkwood". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
140. (1970). "Biographical Memoir of Adolph Knopf: 1882–1966". National Academy of Sciences.
141. (2018-02-21). "Kubler, George Alexander". Dictionary of Art Historians.
142. "George Kubler Collection".
143. (1997). "George A. Kubler". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
144. Anderson, Gerald H.. (1999). "Kenneth Scott Latourette".
145. (March 2, 2001). "Dr. Theodore Lidz, a noted specialist on schizophrenia, dies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
146. Woodhouse, Edward J.. (2007). "Lindblom, Charles Edward". Gale.
147. (1958). "Biographical Memoir of Ralph Linton: 1893–1953". National Academy of Sciences.
148. (October 22, 2013). "In Memoriam: Juan Linz, Authority on Political Institutions".
149. (1975). "Biographical Memoir of Cyril Norman Hugh Long: 1901–1970". National Academy of Sciences.
150. "Guide to the Robert Sabatino Lopez Papers".
151. "Guide to the Charles Templeman Loram Papers".
152. (May 1998). "Obituary: Floyd Lounsbury, linguist and Maya expert". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
153. (1934). "Who's Who in American Education".
154. (March 28, 2001). "Prof. Maynard Mack". The Telegraph.
155. (March 23, 2001). "Maynard Mack, world-renowned scholar of Shakespeare, dies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
156. McQuillian, Martin. (2001). "Paul de Man". Routledge.
157. (December 13, 1999). "Mandelbrot is appointed Sterling Professor". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
158. (January 18, 2002). "English Professor Louis Martz: 'One of Yale's great teachers'". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
159. (March 7, 2003). "Former Yale Provost, Dean, and Scholar Georges May Dies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
160. (May 15, 2009). "In Memoriam: Edwin McClellan, Noted for Translations of Japanese Literature". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
161. (May 8, 1998). "Renowned international law scholar Myres S. McDougal dies". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
162. Higgins, Rosalyn. (May 9, 1998). "Obituary: Professor Myres McDougal". The Independent.
163. (1936). "A Biographical Memoir of Lafayette Benedict Mendel: 1872–1935". National Academy of the Sciences.
164. (January 13, 2006). "Maria Rosa Menocal Named Sterling Professor of Humanities". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
165. Stoehr, John. (January 2013). "The Center of Conversation".
166. Saxon, Wolfgang. (November 1, 1994). "James W. Moore, 89, Legal Scholar and teacher". New York Times.
167. Grimes, William. (July 9, 2013). "Edmund S. Morgan, Historian Who Shed Light on Puritans, Dies at 97". New York Times.
168. Oppenheimer, Jane M.. (1969). "Biographical Memoir of John Spangler Nicholas". National Academy of Sciences.
169. "Guide to the John Spangler Nicholas Papers".
170. Brown, Charles C.. (2002). "Niebuhr and His Age: Reinhold Niebuhr's Prophetic Role and Legacy". A&C Black.
171. Seddon, Fred. (2005). "Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers". [[Bloomsbury Publishing]].
172. "Guide to the Wallace Notestein Papers".
173. (1957). "Julian Joel Obermann". Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis.
174. {{MacTutor Biography
175. (October 17, 2008). "In Memoriam: Nobel Prize Winner George Palade, Established Cell Biology at Yale". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
176. Saxon, Wolfgang. (May 16, 2006). "Jaroslav Pelikan, Wide-Ranging Historian of Christian Traditions, Dies at 82". New York Times.
177. Heller Anderson, Susan. (December 10, 1988). "Henri Peyre of Yale Is Dead at 87; Was Sterling Professor of French". New York Times.
178. (2010). "Periklean Athens and Its Legacy: Problems and Perspectives". University of Texas Press.
179. Gerard, Jeremy. (May 19, 1987). "Frederick A. Pottle, Scholar and Editor of Boswell Papers". New York Times.
180. (April 23, 2010). "In Memoriam: Martin Price, Distinguished Scholar of 18th-Century English Literature". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
181. Squires, Radcliffe. (1964). "Frederic Prokosch". Twayne Publishers.
182. Sadeghi, Yassmin. (April 15, 2005). "Economist Reynolds dies at 94". Yale Daily News.
183. (1952). "Notes". [[The American Economic Review]].
184. "A Biographical Memoir of Frederic Middlebrook Richards: 1925–2009". National Academy of the Sciences.
185. "Guide to the Abraham Robinson Papers".
186. "Guide to the James Harvey Rogers Papers".
187. (April 20, 2003). "Franz Rosenthal, 88, Interpreter and scholar". New York Times.
188. "Register of the Michael Ivanovitch Rostovtzeff Papers, 1897–1968". David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
189. Wes, Marinus A.. (1990). "Michael Rostovzeff, Historian in Exile: Russian Roots in an American Context". Steiner.
190. (October 19, 1964). "Yale Law Dean Named Professor". New York Times.
191. Fox, Margalit. (March 19, 2013). "Francis Ruddle, Who Led Transgenic Research, Dies at 83". New York Times.
192. Benedict, Ruth. (1984). "Edward Sapir, Appraisals of His Life and Work". John Benjamins Publishing.
193. Yang, Zaifu. (2012). "Herbert Scarf: A Distinguished American Economist". University of York.
194. (May 4, 2001). "Scott is designated Sterling Professor of Political Science". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
195. "Vincent Scully". National Building Museum.
196. Goleman, Daniel. (June 9, 1990). "Milton J. E. Senn, 88, Pioneer in Child Psychiatry". New York Times.
197. "Guide to the Harry Shulman Papers".
198. Whaley, W. Gordon. (1983). "Biographical Memoir of Edmund Ware Sinnott: 1888–1968". National Academy of Sciences.
199. (June 25, 2002). "In Memoriam: Renowned Yale Child Psychiatrist Albert J. Solnit". YaleNews.
200. Skinner, David. (2010). "Jonathan Spence Biography". National Endowment for the Humanities.
201. (March 16, 2001). "Scientist Thomas Steitz honored with Sterling Professorship". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
202. Wilder, Thorton. (1979). "American Characteristics and Other Essays". Harper & Row.
203. (March 15, 2002). "Nobel Prize-winning economist James Tobin dies at 84". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
204. (March 21, 2003). "Geochemist Karl Turekian named to Sterling Professorship". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
205. Hua, Cynthia. (March 25, 2013). "Geoscientist left immeasurable legacy". Yale Daily News.
206. James, George. (September 7, 1985). "Hermann Weigand, A Professor at Yale in Germanic Studies". New York Times.
207. "Guide to the Luther Allan Weigle papers".
208. (August 30, 2002). "Paul Weiss: Philosopher fought against age discrimination". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
209. (2002). "Guide to the René Wellek Papers". University of California.
210. (August 10, 2011). "In Memoriam: Harry H. Wellington". Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications.
211. (February 6, 1956). "S. T. Williams, 67, educator, Is Dead; Sterling Professor at Yale Introduced Formal Study of American Literature, Authority of Irving". New York Times.
212. "Guide to the William Kurtz Wimsatt Papers".
213. "Guide to the Arnold Oscar Wolfers Papers".
214. Lamar, Howard R.. (April 2000). "A Life in History".
215. "Iowa Biographical Dictionary". Somerset Publishers.
216. (March 18, 2005). "Center renamed in honor of its founder".