From the Dean | April 2022
|
Dear Arts and Science community, The end of the semester is always a time to reflect on the academic year that has passed, but also an opportunity to look ahead with anticipation of what’s to come. As I look to the coming year, I am particularly excited about the diverse new cohort of faculty joining the College of Arts and Science. To date, we have recruited more than 35 (and counting) new full-time faculty members—a significant number, and an important investment in our educational and research mission. We were, in part, able to make these hires because of Destination Vanderbilt, the university initiative that supports hiring additional world-class faculty. We recruited these rising stars from Harvard, U. Michigan, MIT, and U. Chicago, to name a few. These scholars are tackling the big issues of our time, working on critical topics, and using highly creative approaches in their teaching and research. One faculty member is studying the intersection of public policy and health, particularly infectious disease, substance abuse, and health insurance. Another is a highly decorated author of short fiction, published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, and GQ, among others. One is a chemist who is developing affordable, portable devices to monitor glucose levels, which will help with diabetes management and oral cancer detection. Yet another is studying political violence and its long-term economic effects in Russia and Eastern Europe—undoubtedly a highly relevant topic in our current time. We have also continued to make important investments in our undergraduate teaching mission, with new instructional faculty hires in the languages and sciences, among other areas. We know that our students benefit greatly when exposed to professors from a range of backgrounds and perspectives, and our new hires are an extremely diverse group. Over half are women, and this is the case even in the STEM disciplines, which trend heavily male. Furthermore, close to half of these new faculty are people of color. With such talent, we are strategically strengthening certain areas of excellence within the college. We made key hires in anthropology, further bolstering our internationally renowned program in Andean archaeology. We made additional investments in astronomy, with a particular focus on scholars studying gravitational waves and black holes. We have added two talented authors to our highly ranked creative writing program, and several faculty members are joining our rapidly growing data science program. We made important hires in Asian Studies who will help to develop our new Asian American studies offerings. Our newest faculty members come not only with very strong research portfolios and a dedication to teaching, but they are also undertaking creative projects that will propel Vanderbilt forward. For example, we hired Jad Abumrad, founder of the popular podcast Radiolab, as a research professor who will spearhead the creation of an innovative Vanderbilt podcast institute. Our faculty are the very heart of our university. They inspire and challenge our students, they are highly creative in their work, they teach in innovative ways, and they shape the university’s intellectual community. These newest faculty join an existing group of best-in-class scholars, and together they will continue to produce groundbreaking discoveries and creative expressions that change the way we understand our world. This intellectual energy is what makes Vanderbilt the vibrant, curious, and forward-thinking community that it is.
My best,
|
