Fourteen faculty searches approved for digital transformation initiative

The ambitious hiring initiative will recruit interdisciplinary scholars with expertise in digital, spatial, and data sciences.

Under the leadership of Dean Feng Sheng Hu, Arts & Sciences will launch a large-scale hiring initiative aimed at bolstering capabilities in data analytics and digital technologies. Hu, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and the Lucille P. Markey Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, has approved 14 new faculty searches intended to drive transformative change across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. 

This new expertise will bring nimble, creative thinking and new approaches, unlocking novel avenues of investigation and transforming existing fields of study. Critically, the interdisciplinary nature of the faculty searches means that Arts & Sciences will recruit digital and data scientists with an appetite for convergent scholarship that crosses traditional academic boundaries. A hiring initiative of this magnitude brings unprecedented momentum to Arts & Sciences, enriching research capabilities within departments, across the school, and throughout the university. 

In November 2020, departments and programs across Arts & Sciences responded to Dean Hu’s call for proposals with plans for nearly 30 new faculty positions. “I was extremely impressed by the strong response we saw across Arts & Sciences,” Hu said. “The proposals were outstanding and innovative, and many of them involved collaborations among multiple units – a trend that I find very encouraging.”

Among the approved faculty searches is one for Astrophysics and High Energy Physics.

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