Roderick L. MacFarquhar, Williams professor of history and political science, will replace Kenneth A. Shepsle as chair of the Government department next academic year. Shepsle, who has served a three-year term as department chair, officially steps down July 1.
MacFarquhar, who is on leave this year, said he has "difficult acts to follow" and the department has had "a series of good chairmen and chairwomen."
But, MacFarquhar said he feels that he has "some idea what [the job] involves" because his former position as director of graduate studies in government allowed him to observe Shepsle's work.
One of his first priorities, MacFarquhar said, is to maintain the department's stature. "The department is reckoned to be the best department in the country. The chair's prime aim is to keep it there. We can't just relax on the laurels U.S. News [and World Report] or whoever throws our way."
MacFarquhar said the department must address the vacancies created by departing professors, including the turnover of some junior faculty. He also pointed specifically to the department's loss of Thomson Professor of Government Morris P. Fiorina--who has accepted a post at Stanford--as a departure which creates a gap in the department's American studies branch.
He also implied the department needs more professors. "No chair will ever say they've got enough faculty, that would send the wrong message to the Dean [of the Faculty]," MacFarquhar said. "Our ratio of faculty-to-students is not favorable relative to other comparable institutions. [We need] more faculty to shoulder the burden."
MacFarquhar has been active in both his department and the Core curriculum, teaching classes including Government 90ax: "Crucial Events in Chinese Elite Politics" and Foreign Cultures 48: The Cultural Revolution."
The incoming chair praised Shepsle, who is Markham professor of government, for his sense of humor and his fairness. He said Shepsle had "upheld the traditions of the chair."
MacFarquhar said he feels prepared for the job. "One way or another we learn, but there's nothing like doing it," he said.
Shepsle could not be reached for comment.
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