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Poll: Is it wise for Chapman to recruit aging star professors?
September 28th, 2009, 6:02 pm · 43 Comments · posted by Gary Robbins, science writer-editor
Physicist Yakir Aharonov. Image courtesy of Chapman.
About two years ago, Chapman University recruited Vernon Smith, who’d won the Nobel Prize in economics. Last year, Chapman hired Yakir Aharonov, who has been named by Thomson Reuters as one of the seven most likely people to win the Nobel in physics this year. Usually, the Nobel is awarded to 2-3 people.
Smith, 82, and Aharonov, 76, are still active, but they’re in the twilight of their long careers. Major research schools, like UC Irvine, rarely hire eminent figures who are over the age of 60. Two of UCI’s three Nobelists were long-term members of the faculty when they won, and the third, Irwin Rose, had an informal association with the university.
We’d like to know what you think of Chapman’s recruiting practices.
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But really ,does this matter? They are a private school wih lots of private money and thats what they all do. Now if this was public school doing this then we would have a problem!
Chapman has been engaging in the process of transitioning from a teaching university to a research university for the past couple of years now and this is something that it has to do (and is lucky to have the resources to do it in this economy) in order to build capacity for that transition. If a faculty member received tenure during the old paradigm, and is inclined not to conduct research or engage in scholarship outside of their teaching load then there is little that the chancellor or requisite dean can do. Bringining in researchers who have prestige is about changing the culture of the institution as much as it is about gaining name recognition. Bringing in these names also attracts the next generation of talented doctoral researchers from around the country as they seek post-doc and research appointments to study under these talented faculty members; many of whom stay on permanently with the university after their mentor has retired or moved on. What is important to remember though is that every major university in the country does this, USC is notorious for this.
Ryan said :”Bringing in these names also attracts the next generation of talented doctoral researchers from around the country as they seek post-doc and research appointments to study under these talented faculty members; many of whom stay on permanently with the university after their mentor has retired or moved on.”
Great point! Had not thought of it - thanks for posting!
Interesting point, Brad. Good to hear from you.
The aging celeb professor thing is a good way to attract top students in a particular field who might otherwise go to a different school. University of Delaware, my alma mater, had a couple of these in the English and physics departments. They were good professors. No huge payoff, perhaps, but no harm.
Delaware is a really good school. Gets overlooked a lot. Every Delaware researcher I’ve ever met has been top notch.
Chapman is a small private school looking to build a national reputation. They may want to stop students running around old town in underwear at night and Mr. Dotti has to put his ego in check, Chapman is not about Mr. Dotti’s world exploits, it’s about the quality of students the university graduates.
Sunshine: Hundreds of colleges and universities have undie runs. Are you anti-underwear?
I totally agree with you Sunshine
Being near their age, technical, taught briefly, trusting of school regents decisions, why not. Competence is instantly obvious in these fields. I commend them for discounting the factor of age group awareness in all younger minds, separating, if not isolating young from old.
At the time of my fathers death I could only lament that so much knowledge was lost, also remember the awareness factor on both our parts.
Chapman’s only choice is to buy prestige - you have to wonder about these “over the hill” academics. They must have a tough time with employment to accept a job at a university whose president (Jim Doti) has an ego the size of a student’s tuition bill. I’d like to see the University hire a distinguished faculty member with a psychology background. Maybe then Mr. Doti can be told that no one really cares that he climbed Mt. Elbrus and Mt. Vinson, and no one is interested in reading “President Doti In Print”, or “Adventure Publications” or truly care about his “Adventure Resume”. This school needs some help and it starts at the top. Maybe then it won’t be necessary to hire professors in the twilight of their lives.
Forgive me Elliot, but if you call V.Smith and Y.Aharonov “over the hill” you clearly have not read any of their recent work, you have not heard them speak, and you have not seen the impact they have on their collaborators and students. Before expressing an opinion only based on the anagraphical age of my colleagues, you should read their work. If you send me your email I will send you some of their recent articles, so you can amend your comment. Additionally, you could check out
http://www.chapman.edu/CHANCELLOR/lectioMag.asp
where you will find the video of the last public lecture given by Professor Yakir Aharonov just a couple of weeks ago. On that same page you will find the video of a public lecture by one of the other stars we have on campus, Professor Dickhaut, who came to Chapman in order to be able to collaborate with Professor Vernon Smith. There is truly more than meets the eye.
Chapman is a great school and these hires will only benefit the school and the students. Jim Doti has done an admirable job.
In this day and age..our schools AND TEACHERS are so terrible and over crowded. My cousin goes to Chapman and i think that Chapman is making a great decision to hire proven and accomplished teachers.
I think every school should take a lesson from Chapman University.
Chapman will always be a regional school that attracts mostly local people. You won’t see too many people outside of a hundred mile radius go to Chapman. It will never be a nationally recognized school like USC and will always be a distant 2nd best school in OC to UCI.
Christina, what would “too many people outside of 100 mile radius” be to you?
Most schools are regional.The majority of UCI’s students come from Southern California.
This maybe so, but UCI (simply as part of UC) is far more national a university than Chapman.
I go to Chapman. 45% of our students are from out of state. That constitutes as more then 100 miles away, doesn’t it? I myself am from CT…
Excuse me - I mistyped, I meant 35%
Still a significant number, though when you consider how much larger the state of California is then other states. Especially considering a great many students are from northern California, which we all know is basically another state!
Proof:
http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?match=true&collegeId=3665&searchType=college&type=qfs&word=Chapman%20University
You’re living way in the past, “Christina.” Chapman’s student population is actually only about 25 percent from the local area. It draws students from all across the nation and around the world — 45 foreign countries and all 50 states. They’re attending Chapman for a reason — its high ranking and its national and international reputation as a provider of exceotional education. Chapman is doing a very smart thing - it will never be as big and broadly focused as the public universities in OC, so it is focusing on very specific areas of study that might not be offered at larger schools: economic science, for one; or Aharonov’s branch of theoretical quantum physics. The tactic seems to be working — rankings are rising, the quality of incoming freshmen has gone up every year, and Chapman’s national stature keeps going up. What’s not to like?
There’s nothing wrong with building/enriching your faculty with experts — no matter what their age.
As an Alum at Chapman I think its smart that they are hiring professors who have made there mark in there careers. Its all in marketing and in network connections. Among these individual professors are associate faculty that will move with them as was the case with Mr. Smith. Professors want to be with a school that will a. fund there research b. pay them what they feel they are worth and c. help provide a legacy for which they feel is fit. Chapman is a small school that needs break out stars for which Chapman can build associate faculty around. This was the case with USC in the 70’s and 80’s and any private school that is looking to make headway. They have paid for the infrastructure now its time for them to step up to the plate and pay there professors so that my worthless MBA can be worth something down the road.
What matters is whether Chapman is investing in faculty research and in attracting top grad students (through adequate funding packages). That’s ultimately where the prestige and quality of education will have to come from. After all, grad students and young, upwardly mobile professors are the folks that publish most and end up having the most contact with undergraduates. These are the folks that need to be good for a university to kick butt.
Chapman is a world renowned community college. Goldenwest is envious. Especially since they lost Levitz.
I suppose it was wrong for Chapman to “buy” a law school, and “buy” 4 or 5 professors who are former US Supreme Court Clerks???
Looks like the law school if finally on the right track with Dean Eastman leading the charge to being a top 50 law school.
Why not take that enthusiasm and drive and apply it to the undergrad programs? It can only help the school and the surrounding community.
As for the Trojans commenting here, Chapman can never fully compete unless they have a top 10 football team competing in a major conference. We all know that.
Go Chapman go!!!
It’s Chapman College what do you expect.
Chapman changed from college to university status in 1991.
Chapman Univ. is buying big names to attract students who will pay the school’s Harvard-size tuition. As an Chapman grad, by far the best instructors were not the professional profs, but those who had their feet in the real world with real jobs, and taught classes part time.
My daughter is a sophomore there. Her roommate last year was from the bay area and she knows a number of fellow students from out of state. Chapman U is growing and changing for the better.
Her brand new dorm has what’s billed as the tallest rock climbing wall at a university (Gary, can you confirm?).
I think keeping them excited about their school helps keeps them excited about their education.
Hey, I hear the Chapman cricket team is a formidable opponent to USC.
Won’t the students be the big winners by learning from these professors?
The question is will they? What studen goes to Chapman to study the professor’s specific branch of physics and will they actually get to learn from this professor in a meaningful way?
As the article states, they are at the end of their careers, so how long will they be around and what else do they have to contribute? Good professors are made at a university, not bought is the point me thinks.
Actually, Aharonov is teaching FRESHMEN at Chapman this year — he’s teaching the introductory freshmen foundations in science course. At what other university would a potential Nobel laureate be sharing his expertise with underclassmen on a regular basis (i.e. in a class not taught mainly by grad assistants)? That was what he wanted to come to Chapman to do - to be able to teach underclassmen as well as carry out his important research. Same with Vernon Smith — who at his age remains extraordinarily active, flying all around the world for conferences and speaking engagements, as well as teaching and researching at Chapman. Why would you NOT want an older but world-class professor teaching your classes? Are only youhg professors worthwhile?? I think not.
many people are missing the point. The main point in all of this is to educate students. If these professors are proven to significantly educate the students in their classes to a greater extent than the previous professors, I say go ahead. If not, it is a waste of money and blogging…
It’s not wrong. It would be wrong it they denied them employment based on age. That would make it age discrimination and that is illegal.
The Register must be running out of B.S. to print. All they can do is try to cook this up. Pathetic.
Phil: Please read the story before commenting. We didn’t say there was anything was wrong. We asked people what they thought. If you’d read the story you would have learned that recruiting like this generally isn’t done at large research schools.
Chapman is the best–this was a good move.
Top notch school.
Getting a few nobel winners doesnt mean a good education. How many students look to chapman because of one professor. Its not like it has two or three nobel winners in the same field. So how many students will actually gain anything from this? Few if any. Also consider that the winner didnt get the award because they came out of Chapman or while there. Really, Chapman is trying to make it seem like it is a leading institution but the campus itself is not impressing anyone.
I graduated from Chapman in the 90s back when it was still very small. No nobel prize winners as teachers, but they were all top notch and provided me with an education that allowed me to succeed in the real world. When I applied for grad schools, my Chapman alumni status was commented on during my interviews very favorably.
While Doti may have negative comments that follow his every move, and he may have an ego (or may not-who’s to know, really?) no one can deny that his sure and steady hand has molded Chapman into what it is today. I do not think we’ll ever be USC - but what is wrong with the university having a goal of becoming a renown institution in it’s own right? Last I heard, that type of development should be applauded - more programs=more students, which means more employment then more income for the City of Orange, more prestige for Orange County, and so on.
What is the problem with that?
This
Amen, JCAB! The comments on this site that try to attack Chapman for improving itself are laughable. Since when is it a crime to try to aim high and improve?? Isn’t that the American way? And don’t ALL universities (at least the ones with any budgets left) try to improve themselves by recruiting top faculty from around the nation and the world? It’s not “buying prestige” — there’s no way these guys would even come to Chapman if they didn’t feel it had something to offer intellectually and professionally. Most Southern California schools have a very hard time recruiting faculty because of the high cost of living here and the sad fact that California is falling apart. That Chapman is able to recruit successfully is quite an accomplishment, and to get people of this caliber (no matter how “old” they are — they are still world figures and extremely active in their fields) is even more so.
my wife, just graduated last year , what a great place to be. Its great when you have tatent around you.
While one can’t predict the future with any certainty, the likelihood that professors that old will only be able to teach there for a few years (because they die or get sick and can’t continue) is greater than if they hired professors who are, say, 45-60 years old. That, and it is more likely that they will lack the physical vigor to work at building up their respective departments. However, it is also true that individuals differ, and you can’t really judge without being familiar with the people in question. And, if they are working there actively for even a few years, there may be some benefit to their departments in terms of encouraging younger faculty and grad students to come.