Yale names inaugural university ombudsperson

President Maurie McInnis today announced the appointment of Dawn Osborne-Adams as Yale University’s inaugural university ombudsperson, following an extensive national search.

In the role, Osborne-Adams will serve as a confidential, neutral, independent, and informal resource for members of the Yale community navigating concerns related to their work or studies, the president said in an announcement message.

“Fostering an environment of open communication is vital to the work we do at Yale,” McInnis wrote. “With the creation of this new position, we demonstrate our deep commitment to that ideal.”

A lawyer, Osborne-Adams has served as university ombuds at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) since 2018. She starts at Yale on Sept. 1 and will report to McInnis, who established the Yale ombudsperson role in response to suggestions from faculty, graduate and professional school students, and staff.

“With over twenty years of experience in ombuds practice, law, and leadership development, Dawn has demonstrated not only a keen understanding of conflict engagement and dispute resolution, but also a steadfast commitment to creating opportunities for growth and connection within communities,” McInnis wrote.

At UNC, Osborne-Adams has worked with colleagues to address individual and systemic issues on campus, serving as an independent and impartial conflict engagement partner for more than 45,000 faculty, students, and staff, including trainees. Earlier, Osborne-Adams was ombudsman at Binghamton University in New York State.

She has also held roles in the federal judiciary, McInnis said, serving as a law clerk to district court judges and leading the alternative dispute resolution program for the United States District Court in the Central District of California, then the largest federal district court in the nation.

“Dawn’s role will be a new one for Yale, and I want to thank the search advisory committee for their efforts in helping us to define and create this process,” the president said, expressing “heartfelt gratitude to the faculty, staff, and students who informed and supported their work.”

David Post and Elizabeth Conklin, co-chairs of the search advisory committee, praised the level of community engagement throughout the search, which they said reflected “both the significance of this inaugural role and the real energy and optimism across Yale about what an ombudsperson can contribute.”

Post, who is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Scienes, and Conklin, who is associate vice president for institutional equity and accessibility and the university’s Title IX coordinator, said students, faculty, and staff had shared “thoughtful perspectives about what they hoped for from Yale’s ombudsperson,” input that “meaningfully shaped our work.”

“It also helped attract an exceptionally strong pool of candidates,” they said. “Dawn Osborne-Adams stood out for her expertise, judgment, and deep commitment to this work, and we look forward to the important contributions she will make. We are excited to welcome Dawn to the Yale community later this year.”

Osborne-Adams will operate independently of existing formal or informal dispute resolution procedures and administrative offices, McInnis said, and will be available to all faculty, staff, trainees, and graduate and professional school students who wish to raise concerns related to their academic or workplace experience.

The president said Osborne-Adams will “operate under rigorous confidentiality standards, helping members of our community identify, understand, and engage in thoughtful deliberation about their goals, rights, and options.” She will be “empowered to engage with our community and systems both broadly and deeply, providing a range of informal support, assistance, and referral,” McInnis said.

Maria Mercedes Piñango, a professor in the Department of Linguistics and a member of the FAS-SEAS Senate’s ombuds committee, said she feels “deeply heartened by the creation of the ombuds office — an office that will support graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, staff, and faculty as they carry out their administrative and academic work.

“It comes at the end of a fifteen-year process involving many persevering faculty, graduate students and university administrators,” she said. “And this year, with the solid support of President McInnis and her administration, the Yale Ombuds office is a reality. I could not think of a better outcome.”

Saman Haddad, a student at Yale Law School and current president of the Yale Graduate and Professional Student Senate, said that “students are delighted to welcome Dawn Osborne-Adams to campus. We look forward to supporting her as she builds an ombuds office that breaks down silos and equips students, faculty, and staff with the tools and environment they need to thrive.

“At a time when the university is tightening its belt,” he added, “the president’s announcement sends a clear signal that student wellness and success remain top priorities at Yale.”

At both UNC School of Law and Binghamton, Osborne-Adams served as an adjunct faculty member, teaching courses for law students and graduate students. She is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Georgetown University.

Of herself, Osborne-Adams said she is “honored by this appointment and excited to join the Yale community in this inaugural role.

“The foundational work of an ombudsperson is in recognizing our shared humanity amidst the pursuit of individual and institutional goals,” she said. “In this same spirit, I find myself inspired by the community’s eagerness to welcome an ombudsperson to campus. I am grateful for President McInnis’s responsiveness to these expressed needs, and ready to contribute all I have learned and experienced to Yale’s long history of excellence and impact.”