Prominent history prof may leave

Penn History Professor Marc Trachtenberg may soon be taking his knowledge of diplomatic history elsewhere. Trachtenberg, a nationally renowned Cold War scholar, is currently being courted by both Harvard University and the University of California at Los Angeles. Although neither university has officially made an offer to Trachtenberg, both have been in contact with the Penn professor about a senior faculty position. Trachtenberg is currently on leave from Penn while teaching at UCLA. Trachtenberg and officials from Harvard and UCLA confirmed that contact had been made between both schools and the professor. "It's all very balanced," Trachtenberg said of the three schools involved. "All of these different places have their pluses and minuses." Although he works in the history department at Penn, both UCLA and Harvard are interested in his contribution to political science. "He's an extremely eminent diplomatic historian," UCLA Political Science Department Chairman Michael Lofchie said. "We're very interested in adding that wrinkle to our International Relations program." Roderick MacFarquhar, chairman of the Government Department at Harvard, said Trachtenberg is a historian with a strong background in political science. "He writes history in a way that political scientists appreciate," MacFarquhar said. "He has a very good track record." Penn History Department Chairwoman Lynn Lees said the University would take steps to retain Trachtenberg, but that no contact between him and Penn has been made. "He's a very good teacher and he's an important scholar in the field of diplomatic history," Lees said. "We would like to keep him here at Penn." Trachtenberg said that he took a leave of absence from Penn in the fall of 2000 for a change of pace. "I felt a little bit stale doing the same stuff," he said. "I felt like it was a time in my life to try something new." Besides Trachtenberg, three other diplomatic history professors are currently on leave from the University. But Trachtenberg is not ready to commit to any of his three suitors. "Nothing is definite," he said. "The wheels turn very slowly on these things." Trachtenberg added that he has not yet set a timetable for making a decision about his future. "I feel totally up in the air," he said. "I don't want to make the plunge before I'm totally confident." If he leaves, Trachtenberg will be the second high-profile history professor to depart the school within a year. Last April, then-History Professor Drew Faust left the University to head the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. Trachtenberg said he took a leave of absence from Penn's History department for the opportunity to work in a new field. "Political scientists look at historians in a different way," he said. "It's new stuff for me. I very much like hanging out with these people." Lofchie said that UCLA would make an official offer to Trachtenberg within two weeks. However, he added that he wishes the offer could be made even sooner. As a method of evaluating Trachtenberg's credentials, MacFarquhar e-mailed a handful of Penn students who had taken classes with the professor. College senior Jessica Simonoff said that when she was asked to assess Trachtenberg's credentials, she gladly obliged. "I think he's an extremely valuable asset," Simonoff said. "He really took a genuine interest in the welfare of his students, both extracurricular and in class." "I think he takes a different approach to history than other professors," added College senior Beth Underwood, an International Relations major who was also contacted by Harvard. "I'd be upset if he was leaving." Although he has worked at Penn since 1974, Trachtenberg's roots lie on the west coast. He graduated and received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Trachtenberg's latest book on the Cold War in Europe won two prizes from the American Historical Association in 1999.