Prof who lost bid for tenure wins Lindback Award

Religious Studies Professor Edward Breuer will not return next fall. Religious Studies Professor Edward Breuer is one of the University's top teachers, according to a committee of faculty and students which selected him as one of eight recipients of this year's Christian and Mary Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. But Breuer will not be returning to the University in the fall, since the School of Arts and Sciences Personnel Committee rejected his bid for tenure last year. The Lindback Award honors eight tenured or tenure-track professors each spring, while two Provost's Awards go to part-time faculty. The other award recipients have not been announced yet. Breuer's tenure bid was recommended unanimously by his department. But the personnel committee apparently rejected him due to concerns over his research and publication, according to Religious Studies Chairperson Stephen Dunning. Dunning added that no one questioned Breuer's teaching ability -- for which he received the award. "Nobody's disputing the quality of his teaching, but at Penn you don't get tenure for being a wonderful teacher," Dunning said. "If the scholarship isn't first rate, they're not going to give you tenure." Dunning added, however, that his department vehemently disagreed with the personnel committee's assessment of Breuer's research -- which Dunning said has received considerable praise from leading scholars. "We felt the decision was based upon looking at factors disproportionately," Dunning said. "We felt they were counting pages rather than quality." Former Student Committee on Undergraduate Education Chairperson and Wharton senior Ben Nelson, who worked with Breuer last year, agreed, claiming that Breuer was careful only to publish quality work and will not produce "mass research." "His downfall was that he will not publish for publication's sake," Nelson said. "He will only publish the highest quality work, and his department and colleagues recognized that, but the personnel committee did not." Both Breuer and Dunning said the tenure outcome might have been different if Breuer had completed his second book before the decision was made. At that point Breuer had only written one book -- a publication of his dissertation. Breuer said he made a conscious decision to focus more time on teaching than on research. "My priority has always been my students and that comes with costs and I don't regret that," he said. "The rewards of teaching far surpass the rewards of tenure." Breuer said tenure issues over the past few years have been characterized by a struggle to determine the balance between quality teaching and quality research. He added that while the University claims it balances the two factors, many students are skeptical. After popular English Professor Gregg Camfield's second rejection forced him to leave the University last year, students complained that the tenure process focuses more attention on research and publication than on teaching. And Breuer's students are also disappointed with the personnel committee's decision. Nelson said Breuer's class was by far the best he has taken at Penn, calling Breuer's departure at the end of this semester for Loyola College "a sad, sad loss." "He is an excellent professor," College junior Ami Joseph said. "He's one of those types of professors who gets students to think for themselves. His goal is to get students as excited about what they're learning as he is." Although most students and faculty believe Breuer's rejection was due to a lack of published scholarship, Nelson added that there was some concern about Breuer's ability to teach large lectures, since most of his classes have been seminars. But Nelson added that Breuer has recently taught several larger classes and received considerable praise from students. One of Breuer's former students, who requested anonymity, said Breuer's petition for tenure was harmed by a letter from a member of the Jewish Studies faculty. The professor severely criticized Breuer, although the letter concluded by recommending Breuer for tenure.