Washburn came to Harvard in September partly toreplace Hibbett.

"They're going to be severely understaffed,"Washburn said yesterday. But he said that theproblem will be corrected next year if officialscan fill two senior posts.

"They had the opportunity to fill twopositions, and they filled neither," said Andrews."It was very disappointing."

Cranston said that the University would beconvening an ad hoc committee to appoint theTakashima chair next fall, and that he hoped bothposts would be filled by the year after next.

Washburn said that the department is in aperiod of transition, but that in the long run,"They'll be up to full strength in one and a halfto two years."

Andrews said that the situation shows a lack ofcommitment by Harvard to building a strongprogram.

"From our position, it certainly smacks ofdisinterest on the University's part," he said."It seems the University is not concerned withmaintaining a respectable department."

Denial of Tenure

He said that he was surprised when theUniversity did not convene an ad hoc committee toreview Iwasaki, a specialist in advanced Japaneselanguage and pre-modern Japanese literature, fortenure.

Tu said that the University did not tenureIwasaki because her work has not been publishedand publicly recognized. But he said that herscholarship is excellent and that it was verypossible that she would return to the department.

"She's probably going to University ofCalifornia at Santa Barbara," Tu said. "In coupleyears when her work becomes recognized publicly... we'll make an attempt to bring her back."

It is unclear which post Iwasaki was underconsideration for. Graduate students saidyesterday that University of Washington professorJay A. Rubin, who served as Reischauer visitingprofessor of Japanese studies in 1990-91, wouldlikely be tapped for the Hibbett replacement, andthat Iwasaki would fill the Takashima chair.

Iwasaki's students also praised her upcomingbook.

"The book is going to revolutionize the field,"said Adam L. Kern, another graduate student inJapanese literature.

Tu said that Iwasaki had participated in manydepartmental committees and had helped raise fundsfor the Takashima chair.