Isaac Was Named for Tenure In Afro Over Three Years Ago

Ephraim Isaac, associate professor of Afro-American Studies, has been nominated for a tenured position in the Afro Department, sources in the department said yesterday.

A standing committee of the department nominated Isaac in December 1970, and in April 1971 the committee and members of the department unanimously reaffirmed the nomination and forwarded it to Dean Rosovsky for approval, the sources said.

Isaac's nomination has not yet been acted upon, and Rosovsky declined to comment on the subject yesterday.

Ewart Guinier '33, chairman of AfroAmerican Studies and the only tenured professor in the department, attributed the nearly four-year interval between Isaac's nomination and action on his appointment to the Faculty's establishment of a search committee to find and evaluate other prospective candidates for the tenured position.

The committee did not approve any other candidates.

The committee considered John W. Blasingame, associate professor of History at Yale University, but the Harvard History Department voted overwhelmingly to reject him.

David M. Lewis, associate professor of History at Federal City College in Washingoon, D.C., was also rejected by Harvard's History Department.

It is not known if Isaac is being considered for a joint appointment. Isaac could not be reached for comment.

Rosovsky and Guinier--members of the standing committee that nominated Isaac, and that was abolished in 1973--both declined to comment yesterday on the basis for Isaac's nomination.