Morse Fellows
Morse College is a vibrant community. We would love to count you among us. The Fellows meet a few times per semester at the Head of College’s house, to interact with friends from all parts of the University and from the broader community. Many play the role of Advisor for a student or two. We extend invitations to student functions such as performances and college-wide social events, welcome participation at intramural sports, provide dining privileges in the college at lunch or dinner, all so you can meet with students, faculty and friends. Please join us - we welcome you!
Gena Lai
Director of Special Assets and Strategic Initiatives
Biography
Gena Lai is Director of Special Assets and Strategic Initiatives in the Yale Office of Development. In this role, she conducts legal, financial, and other due diligence on proposed non-cash gifts to Yale; works with donors and front-line fundraisers to structure gift transactions for the donor’s and Yale’s mutual benefit; and facilitates compliance with tax and securities laws relating to the reporting and substantiation of charitable deductions and the transfer of securities gifts. She also manages a multi-million dollar portfolio of a wide variety of assets, including private equity, hedge funds, limited partnership interests, real estate, oil and mineral interests, life insurance policies, intellectual property interests, and collectibles. Prior to her current role, Gena worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC; Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a law firm in New York City; Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, NY; and the Yale Investments Office. Gena graduated from Yale College with a B.A. in English literature and Fordham Law School with a J.D. She is also a CFA charterholder.
Interests:
Shotokan Karate (4th degree black belt), Tai Chi Chuan, and grass roots political organizing.
Offers assistance in:
Contact Information:
Mary Alice Lee
Senior Policy Fellow
Biography
Mary Alice Lee is a member of the faculty of the Yale University School of Public Health. She is a Senior Policy Fellow with Connecticut Voices for Children, a non-profit organization that conducts research and public policy analysis to promote the well-being of Connecticut’s children, youth, and families. Dr. Lee also directs state-funded independent monitoring of enrollment trends and children’s health services in Connecticut’s HUSKY Program (Medicaid and CHIP).
Interests:
Dr. Lee’s attention is on health of women and children, publicly-financed health insurance, the uninsured, and the implementation of Affordable Care Act.
Contact Information:
Becca Levy, PhD
Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Psychology Biography
Biography
Dr. Levy’s research explores psychosocial factors that influence older individuals’ cognitive and physical functioning, as well as their longevity. She is credited with creating a field of study that focuses on how positive and negative age stereotypes, which are assimilated from the culture, can have beneficial and adverse effects, respectively, on the health of older individuals.Her studies have been conducted by longitudinal, experimental, and cross-cultural methods.
She has received a Brookdale National Fellowship for Leadership in Aging, the Springer Award for Early Career Achievement in Adult Development and Aging from the American Psychological Association, the Scholar Award for Research Related to Disadvantaged Older Adults from the Gerontological Society of America and Senior Service America, the Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation Award in Behavioral and Social Gerontology, and the Ewald W. Busse Research Award in the Social Behavioral Sciences from the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics that is given once every four years. She is a consulting editor for Psychology and Aging, is on the founding editorial board of Stigma and Health, and serves on the editorial boards of GeroPsych and Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Science.
Dr. Levy has given invited testimony before the United States Senate on the effects of ageism and contributed to briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court in age-discrimination cases.
She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University and held a National Institute on Aging postdoctoral fellowship at the Division of Aging and Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Her research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the National Science Foundation, and The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation.
Kristi Lockhart
Senior Lecturer, Psychology, Emeritus
Biography
Kristi Lockhart was the Associate Head of Morse from 2001-2012, and is now a Morse Fellow for life! She and her husband, former Head of College Frank Keil, introduced the Morse mascot, the walrus, and oversaw the 2009-2010 renovations. The latter included the implimentation of IM Pei like structure over the common room that brings in needed light, and installing the terraced deck of ipe wood extending from the dining hall, replete with a water feature. Dr. Lockhart also spearheaded the creation of the Fabrics Arts Studio and the hiring of the weaving instructor.
Kristi Lockhart was an associate research scientist and senior lecturer at Yale University having retired in 2021. She received her graduate degrees from Stanford University and University of Pennsylvania. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Lockhart specialized in working with children and families, with a specific interest in depression and other severe mental disorders. Her research focused on children’s social-cognitive development, specifically children’s understanding of social convention, children’s optimism, as well as children’s beliefs about the origins and stability of traits.