Chem Dept. seeks formula to lure profs

Despite new facilities, the department has failed to attract distinguished professors to the University. When the University opened a new $52 million chemistry and engineering building last fall, administrators hoped the state-of-the-art digs would bolster the Chemistry Department's reputation, attracting accomplished researchers for senior faculty positions. About a year later, they are still hoping. Over the past two years, the department has actively tried to recruit senior faculty from other universities, to no avail. According to Chemistry officials, the department's inability to hire any new faculty over the past two years is not the result of lackluster labs or teaching facilities. Instead, officials blame the failure on the personal and sometimes intangible factors involved in the recruitment process. "First-rate laboratory space is one of the many factors that may influence [a professor's] decision; new top-quality space solves a major problem, but only one of many," Chemistry Department Chairperson Hai-lung Dai said. Other factors include how the candidate views the school's support of his or her interests, the research interests of potential colleagues and whether the candidate's spouse will be able to find a suitable job after relocating to a new campus. Ever since the official unveiling of the state-of-the-art Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories -- which are adjacent to the main Chemistry Building -- last November, professors say the 30-member department has been under pressure to fill the offices in the complex. "We have this new building, and it's got space for all these [senior faculty]?. If we don't fill it, other [departments] will want to," Chemistry Professor Donald Voet said. "Several large-size labs are being reserved for new faculty." Despite the department's failure to fill open faculty positions, Chemistry officials claim that neither undergraduate nor graduate education has suffered. Many Chemistry and Chemical Engineering majors, however, disagree, voicing concerns about both lower-level class sizes and professor accessibility. "I've never had a conversation with any of my chemistry teachers until this year," said Engineering junior Frank Sturniolo, a Chemical Engineering major. While not denying that senior faculty scarcity is an issue, several Chemistry professors said they have adapted their schedules to the circumstances at hand. "We certainly do an adequate job of teaching as it is," Chemistry Professor Edward Thornton said. "When needed, certain faculty members do a little extra like not taking sabbatical leaves." Still, he conceded that it would be useful for the department to have a full complement of senior faculty. "A University ought to function in a way that we should be able to staff all our courses and still allow professors their scholarly lives," Thornton said. In addition, several professors said the department has actually managed to improve its course offerings in recent years. "In the past four years we have increased the number of sections for our larger classes," such as Chemistry 101, Voet said. Also, the department has recently begun offering two sections of organic chemistry. In the past, only one section, filled with as many as 300 students, was offered. In an attempt to fill open faculty positions, administrators made three job offers to professors at Yale University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Pittsburgh. All three declined the offers. "In two of the cases [involving the professors from Yale and Wisconsin] it was the family reason that dominated," Dai said. "Both wives had very good job tracks and would have had to suffer setbacks in their own careers." Officials refused to name the candidates, citing University policy. Of the four disciplines making up Penn's Chemistry Department -- physical, biological, organic and inorganic -- officials are most eager to recruit faculty who specialize in organic chemistry. "In the organic area we have great needs," Dai said. "In any strong department you need at least half a dozen [organic] professors; at Penn we have less than half [a dozen]." He declined to say exactly how many the department had. Despite its recent track record, Chemistry and School of Arts and Sciences administrators are optimistic that appointments will be made soon. "The department is working very hard at recruiting and has identified some promising prospective faculty members," SAS Dean Samuel Preston said. "The department can offer outstanding colleagues and wonderful facilities to potential recruits. I am confident that they will succeed and that success will come sooner rather than later." In addition to the Vagelos Labs, officials tout the Delaware Valley -- a hotbed of drug and chemical companies such as DuPont and SmithKline Beecham -- as an important factor in helping lure senior faculty members. Department administrators said they expect to make two or three official offers within the next few months.