“It is hard to work within the constraint of not hiring, not growing,” said Eric N. Jacobsen, chair of the chemistry department.
He said that tenure-track faculty members compose a “healthy” fraction of the current chemistry and chemical biology faculty but added that many will be reviewed for tenure soon.
But department administrators are hopeful that as FAS regains its financial footing, their departments will grow as well. Many are once again pursuing faculty searches to fill vacancies—four new searches have recently been authorized in history and three in economics.
“It seems to be lifting, but I think we have catching up to do,” Frieden said. “I think it will take three to four years of aggressive hiring.”
—Staff writer Radhika Jain can be reached at radhikajain@college.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Kevin J. Wu can be reached at kwu@college.harvard.edu.