Yale Bowls
Scott Strobel has been turning wood since he took wood shop in high school.
He has a particular love for making objects from trees with a history and a place in the community. He started turning wood from Yale trees in 2009. Objects made on his lathe have found their way around the world. They have been presented to more than a dozen heads of state, several university presidents, authors, actors, dignitaries and various members of the Yale community. His favorite bowl, made from the Ginkgo tree in the courtyard of Timothy Dwight College, is now part of the Yale University Art Gallery permanent collection. He presented his work at the Gallery as part of The Conversations with Wood exhibit. Articles about his work have been featured in American Woodturners Associate Magazine, Woodshop News, the New Haven Register, the Yale Daily News, the Yale Herald and the Howard Hughes Institute Magazine.
For his day job Scott is a professor at Yale University in the Departments of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry and Chemistry. Since the start of 2020, he has been serving as the University Provost.
Scott Strobel is the Henry Ford II Professor and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. While at his desk, Scott listens for the telltale sound of chain saws, an indication that a tree is being removed and that it's time to get the truck before the wood is hauled to the dump. Unfortunately, there are stories of some trees that got away (a 300 year old tree in Silliman College is probably the most painful example). But, he is happy to have preserved the wood from the trees listed here and expect that others will be added in subsequent years.
Yale Bowls is officially licensed by Yale University to produce and sell handcrafted wooden objects from Yale trees. A portion of the sales price is provided to Yale University to defray costs for planting new trees on the University grounds. All profits made to the University itself will be donated to charity.
Please contact us at yalebowls@gmail.com with questions about the items we currently have available or to let us know if a tree is coming down on your side of the campus.
