Posted December 6, 2012
Temple welcomes more than 55 new world-class senior faculty
-
Ronald Anderson New position: Professor and chair, Department of Finance Last stop: American University What attracted me to Temple: "The first thing that I found attractive was the strides that the Fox School of Business has made in getting a national reputation in the last 15 years. They've done it with research and quality teaching. It was clear that the dean really wants to make a difference here. Temple has a vision and strategy. They know where they're going." -
Niambi M. Carter BA '99 New position: Assistant professor, Department of African American Studies Last stop: Purdue University What attracted me to Temple: "As a high school student, I was attracted to the city of Philadelphia and the diverse student body [at Temple]. Being able to rejoin the campus, college and department I love has been the biggest thrill…. From the resources on campus, to the interesting communities around the city, I am never want for opportunities to engage." -
Miguel Muñoz-Laboy New position: Associate professor, School of Social Work Last stop: Columbia University What attracted me to Temple: "Department Chair Jeffrey Draine was the main reason. I have been working on the health of formerly incarcerated men, and he is working with [similar] vulnerable populations. When I arrived, we immediately began working on submitting a grant proposal. Also, the School of Social Work has a long history in the area of interventions in HIV." -
Marlene A. Jacobson New position: Associate professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences; associate director, Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research Last stop: Merck & Co. What attracted me to Temple: "To be able to do drug discovery in a place like the Moulder Center — an academic environment with dynamic, talented individuals — is amazing." -
Valéry Ryvkin New position: Artistic director and conductor, Temple Opera Theater; associate professor, Department of Voice and Opera Last stops: Greensboro Opera and Opera Santa Barbara What attracted me to Temple: "I had a very good feeling about the faculty I would be working with at Boyer. The main thing was the feeling of faculty community in my department and the high level of scholarship. It gave me a sense that I would have stability and I would enjoy my work." -
Weidong Yang New position: Associate professor, Department of Biology Last stops: Bowling Green State University What attracted me to Temple: "My research is interdisciplinary; I prefer collaborating with good scientists. Moving here was a good choice because there are a lot of connections among departments at Temple and with other universities in Philadelphia. And it's close to other cities where I can meet other scientists."
For the ninth consecutive year, Temple has hired dozens of new senior faculty members from the world's leading institutions, part of an ongoing push to bring top scholars, researchers and creative minds to the university.
The latest wave of tenured and tenure-track recruits — more than 55 for 2012-13 — brings the total number of senior faculty members hired by Temple since 2004-05 to nearly 520, the biggest influx in the university's history.
The 2012-13 senior faculty hires have joined 13 different Temple Schools and Colleges, with the School of Medicine (13 new recruits) and the College of Liberal Arts (12) welcoming the most, followed by the Fox School of Business (seven) and the College of Engineering (six).
"We're proud to bring yet another group of world-class teachers, researchers and artists to Temple," said Acting President Richard M. Englert. "Our community of scholars is defined by quality — our students deserve nothing less — and this year's new faculty members are outstanding. Their arrival isn't just great for Temple, it's great for the overall economic health of the region."
The 2012-13 cohort of new tenured and tenure-track faculty have brought a remarkably broad range of expertise with them to Temple, ranging from the structure of the proton (physicist Bernd Surrow, who joined the College of Science and Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to the thickening of the heart muscle (cardiologist Thomas L. Force, who came to the School of Medicine from Thomas Jefferson University); teaching students with learning disabilities (Joseph Boyle, who joined the College of Education from Rutgers University); and choral music (Mitos Andaya, who was hired by the Boyer College of Music and Dance from the University of Georgia).
Several new faculty recruits are heading academic units at Temple, including the School of Medicine's Walter Koch (formerly of Thomas Jefferson University), who directs the new Center for Translational Medicine; and Ronald C. Anderson (formerly of American University), who was hired to chair the Department of Finance at the Fox School of Business.
Temple's recent faculty hiring boom has been made possible by several factors. The retirement of a large number of faculty members hired in the years after Temple became a state-related institution in the mid-1960s has increased the number of vacancies. Enrollment increases since 2000 also spurred investment in faculty. In addition, Acting President Englert credited the energy and vision of Temple's deans, many of whom also came to Temple in the last decade.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: A photo of new Accounting faculty member Lawrence Brown was incorrectly identified as Finance Professor and Chair Ronald Anderson in the version of this article printed on page 1 of the Temple Times.]