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A ‘stellar year’ for faculty recruitment
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“It is clear that the opportunities here—fostered by the UB 2020 initiatives—for interdisciplinary collaborations to produce cutting-edge research with great societal impact have played a significant role in attracting such a significant group of established outstanding researchers and teachers from other institutions.”
Their qualifications are outstanding.
Carla Mazzio is a rising star in the field of 16th and early 17th century English literature, including Shakespeare, who came to UB from the University of Chicago. Richard Cohen, who formerly held a faculty position at Duke University, is a renowned Judaic studies scholar who is leading UB’s new Institute for Jewish Thought and Heritage. Lisa Butler, who will join the social work faculty in January from Stanford University, studies people who have been directly or indirectly exposed to terrorism.
These three scholars are among 18 lateral hires—individuals who were tenured professors at other universities but who have joined the UB faculty with tenure for the 2008-09 academic year. They also are among the 83 new “ladder” faculty—tenured or tenured-track faculty—hired this year. Both numbers represent an increase over the 2007-08 numbers of 13 lateral hires among 77 ladder faculty.
UB hired a total of 112 new full-time faculty for 2008-09—29 of whom are not tenure-track in addition to the 83 ladder faculty. Most of the non-tenure-track faculty are clinicians in the various health sciences areas; six may be converted to tenure track in two or three years, depending on funding and research progress, according to Lucinda Finley, professor of law and vice provost for faculty affairs.
Other particularly noteworthy new faculty are Michael Lockett, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, who has joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering as a full professor after working at Praxair; Margarita Dubocovitch, one of the nation’s leading researchers on circadian rhythms and melatonin receptors, who in October will join the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology as chair after serving on the faculty at Northwestern University; and Gregory Valentine, a prominent geological scientist who studies volcanic eruption and natural hazard risk assessment, and who previously worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Finley calls 2008-09 “a stellar year” for recruiting new faculty to UB. Not only is the quality of the group high, she says, but for the first time, 50 percent of all new faculty and half of ladder faculty are women—several in areas, such as the sciences and engineering, where women have been seriously underrepresented. Last year, 36 percent of ladder faculty and 39.6 percent of all new full-time faculty members were women.
“So we also improved significantly on gender balance this year,” she adds.
Of the full-time hires, four are African Americans, 4 Hispanic, 1 Native American and 29 Asian.
“This year’s class of new faculty is absolutely outstanding—well-accomplished scholars in their respective fields and those who have already shown real promise as young scholars,” says Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “As I have had the opportunity to meet many of our new faculty, I know they embrace our vision of academic excellence and will—and already are—contributing to the intellectual life and mission of our university,” he says.
While the total number of full-time faculty hired this year is down slightly from last year—112 this year, 121 last year—the increase in ladder faculty this year is important, Finley points out. “This is significant because tenured and tenure-tack faculty are the backbone and future of a research university, and these are the faculty that contribute most extensively to the research mission, as well as to teaching and institutional and professional service,” she explains.
“UB’s growing recognition for academic excellence and for being a great place to work, as well as the intellectual excitement generated by UB 2020, has enabled us to attract 18 new faculty at tenured ranks from other leading universities,” she says. “It is clear that the opportunities here—fostered by the UB 2020 initiatives—for interdisciplinary collaborations to produce cutting-edge research with great societal impact have played a significant role in attracting such a significant group of established outstanding researchers and teachers from other institutions.”
Among outstanding new faculty
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“UB is a great place for me, given the strength of the Department of Biological Sciences in molecular biology, its commitment to grow in the area of evolutionary biology and the definite genomics and bioinformatics strengths of UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.”
Victor A. Albert
Empire Innovation Professor of Biological Sciences
Previous appointment: Joint Centre for Bioinformatics, University of Oslo -
“Why UB? It was quite exciting to learn that UB's English department was hiring at my level. UB has one of the most intellectually interesting English departments in the country. Faculty from UB have been producing the most cutting-edge scholarship in literary studies for the past 30 years or so.”
Graham Hammill
Associate Professor
Previous appointment: University of Notre Dame -
“I joined the faculty at UB because of the commitment to interdisciplinary work. My work focuses on the intersection of bioethics, human rights, public health and the law. Thus, I believe that UB will be a place that I can continue to grow as a scholar and teacher.”
Ruqaiijah A. Yearby
Associate Professor and Director, J.D./M.P.H. Program
Previous appointment: Loyola University Chicago School of Law
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