FAS dean’s investment in world-class scholars is paying dividends
During her eight years as senior adviser on FAS faculty development, Mahzarin Banaji watched many times as Edgerley Family Dean Michael D. Smith surprised a Committee on Appointments and Promotions meeting by reading detailed students’ comments about a particular professor’s teaching. “Mike made faculty who invest in teaching believe that they were being recognized for it,” said Banaji. “The value of teaching in the tenure decision is more deeply established because he prioritized it.” Dedicated to strengthening a world-class faculty, Smith, who steps down this month as dean, invested in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) with attention and resources, and a vision for innovative classrooms that welcomes interdepartmental teaching as well as artists and writers from outside academia. From 2007 to 2018, the FAS grew from 709 to 738 ladder faculty. “We’ve hired truly extraordinary scholars, and our offers have been roughly at parity or 50/50 (men and women) over the...