EDITORIAL: Thanks for the memories

All 62 of these faculty members have been inspiring students and making groundbreaking discoveries of their own for more than two decades. Their encouragement of bright young minds, their personal work to make a difference in the community and their dogged pursuit of new knowledge will be missed in the coming years. But while the departure of these more than six dozen outstanding scholars will undoubtedly leave a void in the faculty ranks, their move to emeritus status also represents an unprecedented opportunity. Jobs in academia are hard to come by these days, even for the most talented Ph.D.'s and post-doctoral fellows. Those who are hired as assistant professors may find themselves unceremoniously dumped after their two three-year terms are up, if their departments do not have the financial resources to promote them to tenure-track positions. Now, however, there is a little bit of breathing room -- a few more available spaces on the University's standing faculty. Nothing would be more appropriate than filling these newly opened spaces with the same kind of fresh and eager intellects that the new group of emeritus professors represented when they began their careers a generation ago.