NYU Arts & Science welcomed 42 new tenure line faculty and 13 new clinical faculty for the ‘22-23 academic year. The cohort is part of a major multi-year initiative that will increase the Arts & Science faculty by 20%.
Tenured faculty, including award-winning poet and novelist Ocean Vuong; president of the American Philosophical Association Miranda Fricker; anthropologists Sean Brotherton and Aimee Meredith Cox; historian Monique Bedasse and political scientist Rahsaan Maxwell, are among the distinguished academics and early-career standouts in the cohort.
The 1,100-strong Arts & Science faculty is the intellectual core of NYU, the source of discipline-leading scholarship, groundbreaking research, and inspirational pedagogy. Robust and ongoing recruitment efforts are closely informed by the Arts & Science office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Faculty Development, created in 2018 and elevated to a vice dean role in 2021 by Antonio Merlo, Dean for Arts & Science.
In the ‘22-23 cohort, 62% of the new tenure line faculty and 39% of the new clinical faculty are from underrepresented minority groups. Over half the new hires in each group identify as women.
Faculty diversity is critical to core Arts & Science missions of student success and scholarly excellence.
Currently, 66% of NYU’s domestic students identify as people of color, and the University’s incoming class of 2026 has no racial or ethnic majority. Arts & Science educates every undergraduate student across the University. A representative faculty reflecting students’ lived experiences contributes to a productive learning environment and effective preparation for a diverse world.
At the same time, attracting scholars of the highest caliber from a diversity of perspectives is essential to NYU’s ever-growing influence in research and academics.
Recruiting from the broadest, deepest applicant pool requires rethinking traditional structures. Working closely with efforts at the University level, Susan Antón, Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Faculty Development, provides those involved in the process with a robust suite of resources, tools and best practices for inclusive excellence.
Preparing up-and-coming academics for success is another way to diversify faculty. Vice Dean Antón runs a highly competitive Faculty First Look program, which brings to campus scholars from groups underrepresented in academia. Over multi-day visits, these scholars network with Arts & Science leadership, faculty and postdoctoral students, test-run job presentations, and learn about application, interview and selection processes.
“There is a lot of individual work to be done on the part of the people making the decisions,” said Vice Dean Antón. “The challenge now is to sustain the momentum that has happened over the last few years. It’s a long, intentional process of change, not a one and done.”
Dean Merlo said: “I congratulate our new faculty and everyone who contributed to this highly successful recruitment effort. The enrichment of the Arts & Science intellectual community across multiple disciplines and the new collaborative possibilities this opens up are truly inspirational.”