Our Team

Ben Polak is an expert on decision theory, game theory, and economic history. His work explores economic agents whose goals are richer than those captured in traditional models. He is a dedicated teacher both on-line and in person. His course on games and strategy aimed at undergraduates and at business-school students is one of the most popular electives at Yale. A graduate of Cambridge University, he earned his MA at Northwestern University and his PhD from Harvard University.

Ben served as Yale's Provost from 2013-2020. He hired Tim because he believes in the value of a data-informed, rigorous approach to thinking about what is possible and how to get there. He now chairs AVP's advisory board to bring that approach to others.

Alan Gerber is Sterling Professor of Political Science, director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, and professor of economics and of statistics and data science at Yale University. He also has affiliations in the Yale School of Public Health and the Jackson School of Global Affairs. Previously he was appointed the Faculty of Arts and Sciences divisional director for the social sciences and became the inaugural FAS dean of social science, serving in this role from 2014 to 2021. Alan earned his BA from Yale and his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Alan's current research focuses on the political economy of evidence production and use in public policy and organizations. He is involved with Ad Verum in order to share with others both his expertise in policy analysis and governance as well as his personal experience as the Dean of Social Science at Yale.

Ralph Hexter is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Classics and of Comparative Literature at UC Davis. He served as the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor at UC Davis from 2011-2020, also serving as Acting/Interim Chancellor in 2016-17. He previously served as the President of Hampshire College and as Executive Dean of Letters & Science at UC Berkeley. Ralph earned his PhD in Comparative Literature from Yale.

Ralph brings a wealth of leadership experience in major research universities, including land grant public institutions. He is involved with Ad Verum to support institutional leaders, particularly Provosts of complex institutions.

Diane Schanzenbach is a leading economic expert in anti-poverty programs, food insecurity, and education policy. She was formerly the Director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution and Director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern. She graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley with a BA in economics and religion, and received a PhD in economics from Princeton.

Diane's work is motivated by a desire to offer evidence and solutions, based on rigorous research. At Ad Verum she contributes research expertise as well as first-hand experience in creating inter-disciplinary educational programs and in university leadership.

Jesper Sørensen is a sociologist who specializes in studying the dynamics of both organizations and careers, with work that covers a wide range of topics ranging from firm performance to inequality. He is the Faculty Director of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, known as Stanford Seed. Previously he served as Senior Associate Dean in the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 2021-2025. Jesper earned his PhD in sociology from Stanford.

Jesper works with Ad Verum in order to share with others his academic administrative experience, as well as his expertise in organizational design and strategy.