Recruitment Successes Add Quality, Quantity to History Faculty
October 21, 2003
An exceptionally successful recruitment cycle in 2002-2003 has brought six new faculty to the Department of History this fall. With the new recruits, the department’s standing faculty has grown to 45 – an increase of 22 percent over the past four years, and a number that is comparable to history departments at many of Penn’s peer institutions.
“ The impact of these new hires has already begun to transform the standing of our department,” said Jonathan Steinberg, department chair and Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Modern European History. “The numbers tell a tale of their own. Penn has now reached a critical mass in the size of its standing faculty.” And, Steinberg notes, “The distinction of the new hires adds quality to quantity.”
History’s new recruits include Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History Steven Hahn and Merriam Term Associate Professor of History Stephanie McCurry, both scholars of the 19th century American South; Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History Margo Todd, who studies early modern Britain; and Associate Professor Antonio Feros, an award-winning teacher who is a leading scholar of early modern Spanish history. Also new to the department are Assistant Professors Ronald Granieri, a scholar in international relations with an emphasis on postwar German relations with the West, and Julia Rudolph, a specialist in early modern British history, especially legal and political thought.
Penn’s history department serves the largest number of history majors in the Ivy League, according to Steinberg. At Penn, history is consistently one of the most popular majors on campus, and the department teaches over 4500 course units to students across the University every year.
SAS Dean Sam Preston calls the department’s recruitment success “an exceptionally positive development. The School’s strategic plan recognizes history as one of the foundations for excellence in the liberal arts, and the presence of this new talent in what was already a strong department will benefit students and scholars across the University.”
“ Our history department has never been so large and varied,” says Steinberg. “These days, there is a sense of excitement on the second and third floors of College Hall.”