Elizabeth Howe Bradley is the eleventh President of Vassar College, a role she assumed on July 1, 2017. Bradley also holds a joint appointment as Professor of Political Science and Professor of Science, Technology, and Society. Previously Bradley was Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy and Founder and Faculty Director of the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute at Yale University. She was also the Head of Branford College at Yale University. In 2018, she was named a member of the Council of Foreign Affairs and elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Bradley has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers and has co-authored three books including The American Healthcare Paradox: Why Spending More Is Getting Us Less.
Bradley's research focused on strengthening health care systems around the globe, including within the US, UK, China and several countries in Africa. Domestically, she has contributed to several projects including improving quality of cardiovascular care within hospital settings, understanding the relationship between state level social service spending and health outcomes, and improving the transition from acute to hospice and palliative care.
Articles and chapters
Bradley has published more than 335 peer-reviewed papers, some of which include:
Leveraging the Social Determinants of Health: What Works?
The Impact of Reported Hospice Preferred Practices on Hospital Utilization at the End of Life
Variation In Health Outcomes: The Role Of Spending On Social Services, Public Health, And Health Care, 2000–09
Patterns of collaboration among health care and social service providers in communities with lower health care utilization and costs
Association between community social capital and hospital readmission rates
District-level health management and health system performance
Books
Shortell and Kaluzny's Healthcare Management: Organization, Design and Behavior, 7th edition.
The American Health Care Paradox: Why Spending More Is Getting Us Less.
Public and Private Responsibilities in Long Term Care.
International Work
Bradley has led health system strengthening projects in international settings including China, Ethiopia, India, Liberia, Rwanda, South Africa and the United Kingdom and with Vassar is implementing a liberal arts curriculum in collaboration with the University of Global Health Equity and Partners in Health in Rwanda. Bradley first arrived in Ethiopia in 2006 as part of an international coalition that included the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Harvard University, and others. Dr. Tedros Adhanom, then the Minister of Health, asked Bradley to advise 90 hospital CEOs and senior managers as part of the Ethiopian Hospital Management Initiative. Later, Bradley served as the principal investigator for the Ethiopian Hospital Management Initiative, a program run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to improve the functionality and quality of government hospitals in Ethiopia. She also served as the principal investigator for a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Developing the Long-Term Capability of Ethiopia’s Health Extension Program Platform. Bradley’s efforts focused on healthcare leadership capacity and management systems to advance Ethiopia’s healthcare reform. Bradley also assisted in establishing the Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program, which was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative for its innovativeness. She was also the recipient of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant that developed a framework of diffusion, dissemination, and widespread take up of health innovations. In the United Kingdom, Bradley and National Health Service partners established an executive leadership training program for mid-career professionals working in health and social care in the NHS. The Yale Health and Social Care Strategic Leadership Program integrates traditional management and leadership training, professional development, and project-based learning to equip executives with the skills needed to be effective contributors to the transformational change required by the NHS.
Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy
Bradley was appointed as the Director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy in January 2016. The Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy prepares students to develop strategic thinking and leadership capacity across multiple sectors.
Publications
Grand Strategy in the World
The concept of grand strategy, which is the interdisciplinary study of achieving large ends with limited means, has expanded to include practitioners in the field. The Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy sponsors symposia at Yale University focused on leadership and strategic problem solving. One such forum, The Leadership Forum for Strategic Impact, aims to increase the knowledge and skills of African women in senior positions within their nations’ governments, and amplify women’s effectiveness and influence by building a leadership network across Africa.
Panelist, Council of Foreign Relations: Free Speech on Campuses, 2018
In the Media
Bradley has been quoted in, or served as a contributor for, numerous publications on issues facing the liberal arts and higher education. She has been featured in: