Before the Yale School of Management moved into its new campus at 165 Whitney Avenue ten years ago, it was housed among multiple buildings on Yale’s campus. The completion of Edward P. Evans Hall in 2014 brought the School of Management (SOM) under one roof, centered around a large courtyard at the heart of the monumental glass building. That courtyard, however, didn’t have a name—until this past April. At a celebration for the building’s tenth anniversary, Kerwin K. Charles, the Indra K. Nooyi Dean of Yale SOM, announced the naming of the Shen Courtyard in recognition of the generosity of Neil Shen ’92 MA and his wife, Jane Yong.
“It is an honor to share my name with this beautiful courtyard and to celebrate this milestone anniversary for Evans Hall,” Shen said at the event. “SOM has always been a welcoming place for students from all over the world pursuing a rigorous, international business education. As the courtyard sits at the center of our campus, that welcoming spirit will always be at the heart of the school.”
A longtime supporter of SOM, Shen is chair of Yale SOM’s Board of Advisors and is also a co-chair of Driving Purpose – The Yale SOM Campaign, part of Yale’s For Humanity campaign.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Over the past decade, Evans Hall (named for Edward P. Evans ’64) has facilitated many of SOM’s most impressive achievements. The school has doubled its degree program offerings by launching five new degrees, including systemic risk, asset management, and public education management tracks, and has grown its faculty by 50 percent and student body by 70 percent. Collaboration among SOM faculty, students, and alumni has increased. And conferences such as the Education Leadership Conference, Philanthropy Conference, and Yale Healthcare Conference—that faculty and students host using the Shen Courtyard and other named spaces at Evans Hall—have created greater opportunities for collaboration with people outside the SOM community. Yale SOM has also seen its rankings among business schools rise, recently achieving its highest overall rankings to date.
“This is a day of reflection on the past decade in Evans Hall,” said Joel A. Getz, deputy dean of alumni, development, and special initiatives at the school. “But it is also a day when we look ahead.” In 2026, the school will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its founding.
SOM’s curriculum and academic programs continue to evolve with the times. A new Master’s in Technology Management degree, which will welcome its first cohort this fall in partnership with the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, is crafted to give Yale College’s graduating engineering students a firm grounding in both tech innovation and business. The school also aims to provide more scholarships than ever before, increasing access to all its programs for as broad a group of students as possible.
A ‘Wonderful Home’
“This building’s location, beauty, and scale are befitting our school’s rise in prominence here at Yale and in the world fundamentally,” Dean Charles said. “Every day I feel I understand something new about our wonderful home.”
The building, designed by architecture firm Foster + Partners (founded by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Lord Norman Foster ’62 M.ARCH), allows for views across the courtyard and into classrooms and offices, creating a unifying effect and a sense of the school’s hallmark interconnectedness and transparency. SOM’s annual commencement takes place in Shen Courtyard, along with other special events. Most importantly, the courtyard serves as an informal gathering place for students, faculty, and staff where they can meet, share ideas, and imagine ways to have a positive impact for both business and society.