2023: The year in review

On the Yale campus, the year 2023 was marked by transformative change.

New campus initiatives set the stage for the cross-disciplinary research necessary to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges, and the space to do it. A groundbreaking research tool made the university’s unparalleled holdings of artistic, cultural, and scientific objects available to scholars worldwide, opening new doors to discovery. And at home, Yale continued to forge closer ties with its host city of New Haven, creating partnerships and opportunities that promise untold benefits for generations to come.

And in September, the Yale community learned that President Peter Salovey will return to the faculty full time next year after more than a decade of fostering unity, innovation, accessibility, and excellence — and a historic search for his successor began.

As ever, Yale scholars and scientists tackled some of the most profound challenges facing humankind and the planet, including threats to democracy and public health, social inequities, and climate change — and the faculty continued to evolve to meet the needs of the next generation of students.

With the year drawing to a close, we gathered some of our favorite Yale News stories from the past year, including stories that inspired us or gave us hope.

What stories were most popular with readers? In a second list we highlight the 10 most clicked articles on Yale News in 2023.

Out of the lab and into the world: Yale faculty bring research to market

In January, Yale News highlighted the growing number of businesses that have emerged from Yale’s research labs and classroom — and how an initiative known as Yale Ventures is supporting and expanding innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Yale, New Haven, and the world. (January 26)

Making advances against skin diseases that often target children

Yale dermatologists are playing a key role in the development of what could be the first-ever treatment for congenital ichthyosis, a group of often-disfiguring diseases characterized by dry, scaly patches of skin that cover the body. (February 9)

The book on color that never fades

When Yale University Press published Josef Albers’s “Interaction of Color,” his 1963 treatise on color perception, it became a near-instant classic. The book, which remains among the Press’s bestsellers, and which marked its 60th anniversary this year, continues to educate and delight.

‘Joyful noise’: Spotlighting the global influence of Black sacred music

Led by minister and musicologist Braxton Shelley, Yale’s Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church unites scholars, practitioners, and students in the study — and celebration — of Black sacred music. (March 1)

Study links hard-right social media with incidents of civil unrest

An increase in social media activity on “hard-right — those purporting to represent viewpoints unwelcome on “mainstream” platforms — contributes to incidents such as the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Yale researchers reported in March. (March 31)

‘There is no textbook’: Biochemistry course confronts the climate challenge

During the spring semester, biochemist Karla Neugebauer offered a unique Yale College course that encouraged students to take a big-picture view of how molecular science can help address climate change — and challenged them to find their own solutions. (April 25)

‘Deletions’ from the human genome may be what made us human

The loss of about 10,000 bits of DNA over the course of our evolutionary history helped differentiate us from other mammals, a team of Yale researchers reported in April. (April 27)

Book ‘unmakes’ U.S. history to include long-excluded Native Americans

In May, Yale News spoke with Yale historian Ned Blackhawk about his new book, “The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History” (Yale University Press), which retells U.S. history to reveal the centrality of Native peoples in the political and cultural life of the country. The book would go on to win the National Book Award. (May 2)

Yale historian Beverly Gage wins Pulitzer Prize for ‘G-Man’

In May, Beverly Gage, a professor of history and American studies, received the Pulitzer Prize for her revelatory biography of the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, which was described as “a deeply researched and nuanced look at one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. history.” (May 8)

17 million reasons to love ‘LUX,’ Yale’s new collections search tool

This summer, Yale introduced LUX, a groundbreaking custom search tool for exploring the university’s unparalleled holdings of artistic, cultural, and scientific objects. (June 1)

Earning a degree, and a sense of freedom

In June, for the first time, incarcerated students enrolled with the Yale Prison Education Initiative and University of New Haven graduated with associate degrees. (June 26)

A quantum forest grows in New Haven

An art installation featured at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas this summer may have appeared to be a simple light show. It was, in fact, an advanced display of quantum computing technology — all in a night’s work for Yale’s quantum artist-in-residence. (June 29)

New at Yale (but not to New Haven)

A dramatic increase in the number of New Haven public school students entering Yale College is the result of a sustained, multi-faceted, and expanding effort by Yale, the New Haven schools, and community partners to encourage and help local students prepare for higher education — and to make clear that Yale is an option for some of them, regardless of ability to pay. (August 10)

At Yale, a Blackhawk pilot digs into global affairs (and climbs Army ranks)

As a Ph.D. student at Yale, Nerea Cal is deepening her understanding of the intricacies of international affairs while also climbing the military ladder. (August 28)

Yale President Peter Salovey to return to faculty full time in 2024

In August, Yale News shared the news that President Salovey was entering his final academic year as Yale’s 23rd president after a decade of fostering unity, innovation, accessibility, and excellence. (August 31)

Where is the love? Musical recognition crosses cultures — with an exception

In a study, Yale researchers found that some musical themes are universally recognizable by people everywhere. Love songs, however, were harder to pinpoint. (September 7)

‘They were men of Yale’: Two Black scholars honored posthumously

During a stirring campus ceremony in September, Yale honored two Black scholars who studied theology here in the 1800s but couldn’t formally register because of their race. (September 15)

Looking forward: Yale program helps Ukrainian refugees adapt to new lives

A series of English courses offered by the Yale Center for Language Study provides practical skills — and a welcome sense of community — to Ukrainian families trying to regain a sense of normalcy. (September 18)

Reimagined Kline Tower promotes connections, collaboration

The Yale community recently celebrated the rededication of Kline Tower, a Science Hill landmark that’s been transformed into a hub for mathematical, statistical, and data-driven research following an ambitious top-to-bottom renovation. (Sept. 29)

Yale breaks ground on historic Living Village project

This fall, Yale Divinity School broke ground on the Living Village, a uniquely ambitious residence hall for divinity students: In addition to meeting the stringent standards of the Living Building Challenge, it also aims to deliver a moral and theological statement about the need for the urgency to construct buildings that are in harmony with nature in a time of climate crisis. (October 12)

Native American Cultural Center celebrates a decade of growth

In the 10 years since it moved into its own home on High Street, the NACC has provided a space, and a community, for Yale’s Native and Indigenous students. (November 21)