Dean Weinstein Pauses Faculty Hiring at the Harvard Kennedy School

Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein will pause all new faculty hiring at HKS for the 2024-25 academic year, according to three individuals familiar with the matter.

Weinstein explained the hiring pause — announced at a faculty meeting in early September — as a strategic measure to allow faculty to prioritize teaching and research over hiring responsibilities, one person close to the decision said.

HKS spokesperson Daniel B. Harsha did not deny the hiring pause in a statement, but wrote that Weinstein intends to use his first year leading the school to use conversations with faculty members to inform future hiring decisions and other strategic initiatives.

“Dean Weinstein is reaching out to stakeholders across the Kennedy School community, including faculty, staff, students, and alumni to help develop strategy on many issues related to the future of the school,” Harsha wrote.

The pause marks Weinstein’s most significant decision since assuming the Kennedy School’s top post in July and his most concerted effort yet to improve relationships among HKS faculty.

The hiring pause will not affect the Kennedy School’s ongoing faculty searches — including the search for a faculty member who will serve in a role named after Henry A. Kissinger ’50, the controversial longtime American diplomat, according to one person familiar with the process.

Since becoming the HKS dean in July, Weinstein has not authorized any new faculty searches. He announced four new HKS faculty members in August, but their appointments were approved by his predecessor, former HKS Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf, before he departed the position in June.

The hiring pause comes amid growing calls from students to improve the gender, racial, and international representation of HKS faculty. During the dean search that ultimately landed on Weinstein, students urged the Kennedy School to ensure that the next dean was committed to diversifying the faculty.

The pause also follows Elmendorf’s tumultuous tenure at the school’s top post.

When he was the HKS dean, faculty widely criticized Elmendorf for his decisions to investigate allegations of antisemitism against HKS professor Marshall L. Ganz ’64 and to block former Human Rights Watch head Kenneth Roth from a fellowship at the Kennedy School over his stance on Israel and Palestine.

One attendee at the September faculty meeting said the hiring pause coincides with efforts to foster connections among faculty members and promote transparency between the dean’s office and professors.

Harsha did not comment on whether the hiring pause is designed to mend ties among faculty.

“This inclusive process is designed to gather a broad array of input from across the School, which will help inform decisions on future faculty hiring needs,” Harsha wrote.

—Staff writer William C. Mao can be reached at william.mao@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @williamcmao.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.