Kimberly M. Goff-Crews

She serves as secretary of the Yale Corporation, supports institutional governance, oversees the university chaplaincy, and ensures the alignment of university-wide policies and procedures to maximize support for all students. She is also responsible for the conduct of official university functions, including Commencement.

After several years in private law practice, Ms. Goff-Crews returned to Yale as assistant dean in Yale College and director of the Afro-American Cultural Center from 1992 through 1998. During that time, she designed and implemented a wide range of programs to support student development, including improvements to First-year Orientation, tutoring programs, and the Yale Summer School. She focused in particular on enhancing the African American student experience at Yale and improving retention rates for women and students of color in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields through the creation of the Science, Technology, and Research Scholars (STARS) program.

From Yale she moved to Lesley University in Boston in 1998, where she served as associate dean in the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences and then as chief of staff to the president and director of planning. In that position she supported senior administrators, trustees, and faculty on faculty development, curricular reform, and strategic planning. From 2003 to 2007, she served as dean of students at Wellesley College, where she worked effectively to revise student disciplinary processes and upgrade student services.

Ms. Goff-Crews most recently held the position of vice president for campus life and dean of students at the University of Chicago, where she was responsible for the oversight and strategic direction of student services and student life across the university. She represented student interests with numerous university offices and worked very successfully to enhance graduate student life as well as to enhance the campus environment for faculty, students, and staff. Her achievements included the development of an integrated student housing plan and improved access to health and wellness programs.

Ms. Goff-Crews is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School. At Yale she served as one of four alumni on Yale’s Advisory Committee on Campus Climate. She previously served on the boards of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and Connecticut Campus Compact. She is a commissioner for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and serves on the boards of United Educators, an insurance company that serves educational institutions, and the International Festival of Arts and Ideas.