Pierson College Tea with Patricia Melton ’83 B.A.

Patricia Melton has been executive director of New Haven Promise, a program which covers in-state college tuition for high-achieving New Haven public-school students, since 2012. She credits her empathy for the students with whom she works from her own experience paying her way through college as an undergraduate at Yale, as well as her 18 years spent working in education. After Yale, Melton went on to serve as chief fundraiser for Boston’s first charter high school, assistant dean of instruction at Vincennes University, and chief academic officer for Indiana’s third-largest public school district. She now serves on the Yale Club of New Haven board, as well as the Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors.