Poli Sci, Fels lose top faculty recruitment

Penn's efforts to increase the Political Science Department's depleted faculty ranks -- and to resurrect the beleaguered Fels Center of Government -- suffered a setback last month when American politics scholar Paul Light chose not to come to Penn after a long courtship by the University. Light, 45, is currently director of the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts, one of the nation's largest private philanthropies. The author of 10 books, he previously taught at the University of Minnesota and visited Fels this spring. Light, who denied any serious interest in leaving his current post for a position with the University, is responsible for distributing $16 million this year to programs working to improve government. "I was impressed with everything I saw at Penn, with the leadership and the department, but want to complete what I have started here at Pew, which is build a distinguished national program focused on renewing civic life in this country," he said. "As you can imagine, it is quite a task." In April, Political Science Department Chairperson Ian Lustick said he was "operating with 95 percent confidence" that Light would be on Penn's faculty this fall. But last month Lustick said he was "not only disappointed, but very surprised" at Light's rejection of the University's "extremely responsive and exciting" offer. "We went several extra miles for this one," College Dean Richard Beeman said. "Paul Light represented by combination of talent and past experience a unique opportunity. There is not another Paul Light waiting in the wings." Light was not only being sought out to join the Political Science staff -- which has already seen two junior faculty leave Penn and four senior faculty announce plans to retire this year -- but also heavily recruited by top administrators to direct the Fels Center. University President Judith Rodin said in April that she hoped Light would be attracted by the opportunity to run Fels, which has fallen on hard times since former director James Spady resigned in 1996. Having lost its accreditation, Fels is now run out of the Provost's Office. In addition to its implications for Fels, Light's decision to stay at Pew leaves the Political Science Department without any new senior faculty hires for the fall -- one of the department's top goals and a strategic priority under the University's Agenda for Excellence. Lustick said last fall that he was confident that three or four new faculty would be on staff by September. So far only one recruit, international relations scholar David Rousseau of the State University of New York at Buffalo, has accepted Penn's offer. With this setback, officials are redoubling their efforts to recruit faculty for the fall of 1999. At a recent meeting of the deans in the School of Arts and Sciences, the department was granted authorization to hire up to four senior and one junior faculty members in the next year, according to SAS Dean Samuel Preston. Lustick said that he is currently talking to three other potential senior faculty hires. Of those, he said that Jim Snyder, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the farthest along in the discussions. Lustick said the offer made to Snyder -- which includes a salary increase, endowed chair and the right to recruit more faculty to the department -- has "passed through all the levels of the University." Snyder was unavailable for comment this week. "Ultimately, Jim's decision to come here will be based on his confidence that other people, junior faculty, would come here to work with him," Lustick said. Beeman said scholars' decision whether or not to uproot themselves are based on a number of "personal and professional" considerations. "We are going out and recruiting senior faculty who've already got great jobs at places like Stanford, Princeton and MIT," he said. "We're helping their spouses find jobs [in Philadelphia]. We're showing them neighborhoods. We're showing them school systems." Beeman emphasized that recruiting at the senior level is a difficult process that rarely yields a positive result. "Every one of the recruitments is at best a less than 50-50 proposition," he said. "This is not like dealing for [oft-traded baseball star] Mike Piazza. They can't be sent wherever by their owners." Light, however, is optimistic about the University's efforts. "I think they'll do well in their trying to rebuild," he said. "Once they recruit the first one, the rest will fall in due order."

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