Diverse array of top scholars adds teaching and research expertise to IU

The College of Arts and Sciences is welcoming 32 new tenure-track faculty this year, all bringing new scholastic life and ambition to the College and the IU Bloomington campus. These faculty include scholars ranging from those in the earlier arcs of their promising careers to full professors preeminent in their respective fields. Some are brand-new to IU, and some are seasoned faculty who were recently promoted. They are world-renowned researchers, creators of new chemicals and chemical processes, experts in antiquity, historians of ancient philosophies, and yet more, who enrich our school and add to the truly world-class interdisciplinary liberal arts education the College of Arts and Sciences provides.

Approximately half of these new hires were supported by the Presidential Diversity Hiring Initiative and the Provost’s strategic hiring funds for senior women and women in science.

Four of these new hires were made possible in part by endowed positions created by generous donors who are committed to helping the College attract outstanding teachers and researchers to the Bloomington campus.

“We are excited to welcome our new colleagues to their home in the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Rick Van Kooten, the executive dean of the College. “These scholars will significantly contribute to our vibrant intellectual community, from teaching and mentoring students within and across their departments, while contributing to the research enterprise at IU. In addition, thanks to support provided through the new Presidential Diversity Hiring Initiative, in an incredibly competitive market for faculty hiring we now have the resources to attract the most talented and diverse scholars in the country to our campus.”

“Through our participation in the President’s Diversity Hiring Initiative, the College successfully recruited faculty members across all three of its divisions,” said Vivian Halloran, the associate dean for diversity and inclusion in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Faculty hired through this initiative combine their expertise in their respective areas of specialization with experience in areas such as applied inclusive teaching pedagogy, inclusive lab management procedures, effective partnerships with community organizations, and founding or coordinating mutual aid organizations, and running outreach programs to recruit students from a variety of backgrounds.”

Halloran added: “We are lucky to be joined by such talented and dedicated colleagues ready to help us build on our ongoing efforts to make our College community a more welcoming atmosphere in which to thrive.”