Northeastern Voice

Building momentum: Aoun expands faculty hiring

President Aoun, at October's Town Meeting: "What I stand for is very simple: A commitment to the academic enterprise in its entirety."

In October, pointing to the University's investment in 37 new faculty positions in the first year of his administration, President Joseph Aoun told the university community: "This is only the beginning."

The implementation of the academic plan now provides the occasion to expand the breadth of the Interdisciplinary Faculty Initiative (IFI) beyond the thirty faculty members originally envisioned in the 2006 launch of the IFI. This week the president announced that his administration projects funding a total of 50 new faculty members under the auspices of the IFI over three years, at the rank of associate professor or higher, with a number of these appointments to start as early as fall 2008.

This announcement reflects a further investment of resources in his top priority. The president cited the quality and work of the first class of hires, who started in fall 2007, and said he wants to continue to build on that momentum.

"The quality of the faculty we are attracting from leading universities across the country and around the world is evidence that leading researchers and scholars are drawn to our innovative environment," said Aoun.

"Their enthusiasm creates more interest among their colleagues and peers and we are seeing that our faculty members are our best recruiters."

"By attracting faculty who are dedicated to working with experts in other disciplines, we will generate groundbreaking research and distinguished scholarship that will benefit students and society," he said.

Said Provost Ahmed Abdelal: "We have built strong disciplinary foundations under the Academic Investment Plan. This advances Northeastern to the forefront of universities that address global challenges through interdisciplinary scholarship and collaborative translational research."

Adding faculty at the tenured level will strengthen Northeastern's academic reputation, advance the Ph.D. and research initiatives and increase the educational opportunities available, said Susan Powers-Lee, executive vice provost.

"We want to add tenured academic leaders across the university," she told the Faculty Senate this week.

Powers-Lee called the president's announcement of an expanded IFI "a celebration."

Faculty with shared interdisciplinary interests in all areas of the university are encouraged to work with their dean, within and across colleges, to identify potential areas, candidates, or clusters of candidates aligned with the themes of the university's academic plan. Questions or inquiries regarding implementation of this initiative can be directed to Susan Powers-Lee in the provost's office.