Harvard lost one junior and one senior Faculty member this summer, when Professor of Economics Michael D. Whinston and Associate Professor of Government Bonnie Honig left for tenured positions at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Assistant Chair of Economics Ian Savage said his department at Northwestern started actively recruiting Whinston last fall, when Northwestern learned that his wife, Associate Professor of Government Bonnie Honig, might not receive tenure at Harvard.

"That was our window of opportunity, " Savage said. "If we could, we'd hire the whole economics department at Harvard. "

Northwestern officials also expressed delight at Honig's acceptance of their offer of tenure.

Incoming chair of the political science department at Notherwestern University Michael Wallerstein said Honig was "the very best of the applicant pool, " and called her departure "a great loss for Harvard, and a great gain for Northwestern. "

Honig, an associate professor of government, was denied tenure earlier this year. Her case sparked outrage across the University as Faculty, students and alumni questioned the administration's stated commitment to increasing the proportion of female faculty at the University.