Faculty Recruitment
In order for CAS to provide its students with a world-class undergraduate and graduate education and maintain its reputation as a leading research institution, the college must continually renew and enhance its faculty. In 2017/18, CAS hired 22 new lecturers, one senior lecturer, 16 assistant professors, four associate professors, and eight full professors. In addition, this fall five faculty members from the former Wheelock College (now merged with BU) joined our ranks. These new faculty members are already enriching CAS’ teaching and research endeavors. (See Appendix, New CAS Faculty, AY 2017/18.)
Of the 11 new full and clinical professors, one is in the natural sciences, four are in the mathematical and computational sciences, two are in the social sciences, and four are in the humanities. They include: Adam Smith (computer science), an expert in data privacy and cryptography who has held visiting positions at the Weizmann Institute of Science, UCLA, Boston University, and Harvard University; Qiang (Q.C.) Cui (chemistry), a biophysical computational chemist who has authored more than 235 publications already at this relatively early stage of his career and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship; Joyce Hope Scott (African American studies), the author of numerous publications on African American writers and African diaspora literatures and culture and the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, a Gordon Marshall Fellowship Award, and the Cynthia Longfellow Award for outstanding teaching; and Sally Sedgwick (philosophy), a recipient of Humboldt, Fulbright, and NEH fellowships, who is among the most eminent figures working on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and German Idealism.
Diversity
Diversity continues to be a top priority both at BU and at CAS. Diversity in background and gender, like diversity in thought, is crucial to providing a superior education and conducting groundbreaking research, as today’s global economy requires workers to navigate a multicultural world and research has shown that diverse groups are more likely to come up with innovative ideas. This past spring, a committee of CAS faculty members completed its report and recommendations on Diversity and Inclusion at CAS, which offers a comprehensive vision addressing faculty and staff diversity, the climate for diversity, the need for governance, and the diversity of our students and curricula. One area of focus is to improve communications with and efforts to attract and hire diverse faculty candidates. To that end, we will continue to work to provide academic departments with training and resources, such as the innovative training for CAS faculty in understanding unconscious bias put on by the Cornell Interactive Theater Ensemble in fall 2017.
With a faculty of over 700, it will take time to bring in more diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. But during the 2017/18 academic year, we made substantial progress. Of the 33 professors we hired (assistant, associate, full, and clinical), 18 were women and 15 were men. So, while our faculty as a whole is 38% female, 55% of this year’s incoming members are female.
Of the 11 senior faculty members we hired (full professors and clinical professors), four are underrepresented minorities. So, while only 5% of our faculty members are underrepresented minorities, 36% of our new senior hires are from these groups (see diversity and inclusion report for details). In addition, another new senior faculty member, Qiang (Q.C.) Cui, is of Asian descent, meaning that almost half of the new senior faculty members are non-Caucasain. These new senior faculty members, through their racial or ethnic background and often through their research topics as well, bring diverse points of view to what is still an overwhelmingly white faculty. Besides Joyce Hope Scott, mentioned above, this past year’s senior faculty hires included Yves Atchade, an internationally recognized expert in Bayesian statistics, high-dimensional data analysis, and computational statistics, who has pioneered efficient new algorithms for high-dimensional data applications and performed seminal analyses validating state-of-the-art approaches to adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. Also joining the CAS faculty are Harvey Young (English), a theater historian and expert on the intersection of race and theater, who will serve as dean of BU’s College of Fine Arts, and Crystal Williams (English), an award-winning poet and thought leader on diversity in the arts, who will serve as BU’s first associate provost for diversity and inclusion.
Awards and Recognition
The high caliber of CAS faculty is evident both inside and outside the classroom. Each year, CAS faculty members receive numerous prestigious awards and honors for their cutting-edge research and exceptional contributions to scholarship in their respective fields, as well as their passion and commitment for teaching.
Several CAS faculty members have been honored for their teaching this year, including Elizabeth Co, a senior lecturer in biology who won the 2018 Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Brooke Blower, an associate professor of history, who won the Metcalf Cup & Prize. Both prizes are University-wide and the Metcalf Cup & Prize is given out to one professor each year.
Here is a sampling of other awards and honors received by CAS faculty in 2017/18:
- Assistant Professor Wen Li was awarded the James B. Macelwane Medal of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The Macelwane Medal is the most prestigious award given to young scientists by the AGU. It is awarded annually to three to five honorees for “significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by an outstanding early career scientist.”
- Professor of History Bruce Schulman was recently invited by the Electors to the Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professorship of American History at the University of Oxford to serve as the Harmsworth Professor for the 2020–21 year. Schulman, the William E. Huntington Professor of History, has made considerable contributions to his field.
- Xi Ling, an assistant professor of chemistry, received the University Provost’s Career Development Professorship. Her multidisciplinary research in nanoscience works to synthesize new two-dimensional nanomaterials, reveal their physical nature through spectroscopy, and ultimately develop them for uses such as solar cells and logic circuits.
- William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor Bonnie Costello’s publication, The Plural of Us: Poetry and Community in Auden and Others, was selected as the winner of the 2017 Robert Penn Warren-Cleanth Brooks Award for literary scholarship and criticism.
- Emily Whiting, an assistant professor of computer science, was one of two winners of the University’s Innovation Career Development Professorship. Her research in architectural geometry, computer-aided design, and 3-D fabrication offers numerous applications—from building masonry to the manufacture of materials.
Annual Report 2017/2018
From the Dean
Leading a dynamic college and graduate school of arts and sciences within a major research university is by definition a team effort. Interim Dean of Arts & Sciences Stan Sclaroff is determined to build on the accomplishments of former Dean Ann Cudd. The dean search that gets underway this fall is also an exciting opportunity for the school’s leadership, staff, and faculty to continue to imagine what is possible for our college.
A Year of Building
During the 2017/18 academic year, the college and graduate school continued their forward momentum from recent years, strengthening and growing existing programs and initiatives. We helped lead the creation and launch of BU’s new general education curriculum, the BU Hub; launched a new living-learning program, Global House; and continued a pattern of growth in the number of master’s students while maintaining and enhancing the strength and excellence of our PhD programs.
Strengthening Undergraduate Education
At CAS, we provide students with an education for the 21st century—one that is flexible, forward-looking, grounded, and rigorous. In 2017/18, we matriculated one of our most talented ever classes of first-year students. And we worked hard to expand the experiential learning opportunities available to them, most notably with the launch of Global House. We also took the lead in developing a new BU-wide general education curriculum, the BU Hub.
Enhancing Graduate Education
A year ago, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GRS) welcomed a new associate dean: sociologist Emily Barman. Since taking the helm, Barman has focused on expanding support services for students, enhancing diversity and inclusion efforts for our graduate programs, and continuing a pattern of growth in the number of master’s students while maintaining and enhancing the strength and excellence of our PhD programs.
Maintaining a World-Class Faculty
In order for CAS to provide its students with a world-class undergraduate and graduate education and maintain its reputation as a leading research institution, the college must continually renew and enhance its faculty. In 2017/18, CAS hired an excellent and diverse group of new lecturers and junior and senior faculty members.
Conducting Pathbreaking Research
In 2017/18, our faculty continued pushing the boundaries of research in a vast array of fields. Discoveries both major and incremental will have a real, positive impact on people’s lives. One of the biggest leaps forward came with the opening in fall 2017 of the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering.
Building Our Future Together
In 2017/18, the eighth year of the Campaign for Boston University, numerous alumni, friends, and parents have helped to raise $136.2 million for CAS—far exceeding our ambitious goal of $100 million.
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