Tenure Rejections Raise Questions

University President Lawrence H. Summers might be aiming for a younger set of professors to tenure. The University recently denied tenure to two 54-year-old scholars, prompting speculation that Summers is making decisions based on age more than academics.

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles wrote in an e-mail that he “absolutely agree[s] with the president that adjectives like ‘exciting, promising, and brilliant,’ tend to be more persuasive than adjectives like “distinguished, and eminent” when describing professors.

Summers was tenured at the age of 28, making him one of Harvard’s youngest tenured professors ever.

Roderick MacFarquhar, government department chair, confirmed that Summers recently denied tenure to 54-year-old Istvan Hont, a political theorist at Cambridge University.

A University source, however, said that productivity—not stage of career—was the main factor behind Summers’ decision.

While the Wall Street Journal recently quoted Summers saying that he is focusing “on what portion of a person’s work lies in the future,” University spokesperson Joe Wrinn said that doesn’t necessarily mean the president is changing University policy.

“I don’t believe he is explicitly implying age in the Wall Street Journal quote. It’s more a matter of the potential of a person’s career,” Wrinn said.

According to Friday’s Journal article, the average age of “tenured arts-and-sciences” professors is 55, and fewer than one-tenth are younger than 40.

Still, some wonder whether tenuring professors early in their careers presents too much of a risk, since tenured professors hold lifetime positions and can only be fired for serious misconduct.

Knowles wrote that he thinks students prefer professors in the prime of their careers—still making their marks.

“Of course it’s more uncertain to appoint colleagues earlier in their careers, yet there’s surely no question that our students find it more exciting to be taught by those who are in the process of making their scholarly mark, than by those whose reputation has already been made,” he said.

Harvard’s tenure process is very secretive—individuals do not apply for tenure but are recommended without their knowledge, voted on by the relevant department and considered by Knowles and an ad hoc committee, where the President has veto power. It is difficult for those in the running to confirm whether it was, in fact, Summers who was the deciding factor.

Summers has presided over approximately 10 tenure cases as president.

Karol Berger, a 54-year-old music historian at Stanford University, said that he doesn’t know why his tenure was recently denied, but he speculated that age may have played a role.

“No one has officially informed me why this decision was taken, but I suspect it’s not implausible” that age was involved, he said.

Berger said that Harvard’s music department and a Harvard dean had unanimously approved his tenure.

“I understand that my case went all the way to the president and was decided on a presidential level,” he said.

University officials declined to comment on the specifics of tenure cases.

Berger believes that implementing “any [tenure] policy in a mechanical way” will work to Harvard’s disadvantage.

“Until recently Harvard was in very enviable position of being able to skim the cream from the best academic departments internationally by making late appointments,” he said.

A change in policy would put other schools in a better position to compete for older talent, he added.

Harvard has recently tenured two professors, who will begin teaching in the spring. Charles Langmuir, 51, of Columbia University, will join the department of earth and planetary sciences. Vahid Tarokh, from MIT, will join the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Tarokh declined to comment or provide his age. Langmuir said he was approved for tenure during President Neil L. Rudenstine’s administration.

—Kate L. Rakoczy and David H. Gellis contributed to the reporting of this article.