Fri 8 Jul 2005
The best part of EphBlog is often the anonymous comments. In this thread, a reader claims that:
[A] number of faculty are leaving the college soon, at least according to rumors on Spring Street. They are: Mark Taylor, Goethals, Kassin, Kotchen, Love and Stamelman.
True? I have no idea. Rumors about Taylor have been a staple of the College for decades. He could easily get another position somewhere else, but would his wife Dinny be offered a position comparable to her current job as Chief Technology Officer at Williams? Maybe, maybe not. Dual career couples have made it much more difficult for universities to poach each other’s faculty, relative to 30 years ago.
Goethals, at 61 or so, is near retirement age for Williams in any event. Perhaps he is planning to, like Jim Burns, retire from Williams and then take a new position elsewhere. Goethals is also one of the highest paid people at Williams ($219,000 in 2003). It seems unlikely that any place would be paying him much more than that. So, if he does leave, it probably isn’t about the money.
Love and Kotchen have only been at Williams (economics) for two years, but both are doing fine on the publication front, so both could probably get economic appointments elsewhere. But junior professors generally stay for more than 2 years at their first job, so I’d wager that they will be here until 2007 at least. Have their spouses found good employment in Williamstown?
Rampant speculation and rumor-mongering is, as always, welcome in the comments.
July 8th, 2005 at 9:51 am
Kotchen is leaving; that is true.
July 8th, 2005 at 10:06 am
I guess that we also have confirmation of that in so far as Kotchen is not listed in the course catalogue for next year. Love is, however.
Again, it is unusual for an assistant professor to leave after just two years. Kotchen seems to be heading for UC Santa Barbara.
July 8th, 2005 at 10:51 am
A given is that if one hires good people, others will covet them and consequently sometimes will inveigle them to leave.
July 8th, 2005 at 12:55 pm
Goethals is definately leaving, after this fall’s sememsgter, for Maryland (?) I think.
He said that after he retires he might come back to Williams and teach much the way James MacGregor Burns does, one class here and there, but right now he and his wife want to experience living somewhere else for a change.
July 8th, 2005 at 1:21 pm
I heard from Taylor’s last semester students that he’s leaving to chair Columbia’s religion department (and, presumably, continue teaching some architecture there).
July 8th, 2005 at 3:35 pm
Ouch, that hurts. Between Gluck and Taylor, that is Williams’ two most famous profs leaving in the last few years. It was only a matter of time before they left for a big research university, but Williams managed to hold on to them for quite some time. Kassin would also be a brutal loss, he is both a fantastic teacher and a top-rate scholar. I hope that is merely a rumor …
July 8th, 2005 at 5:04 pm
How much of an “ouch” was Gluck’s departure? Correct me if I am wrong, but she taught minimally (one or two classes per year), lived in Cambridge and was not much of a presence on campus. Are current poetry classes less well run than hers? I realize that they are being taught by less famous people, but I don’t see how that matters much.
I know the College likes to brag about famous faculty, but I don’t think that this bragging has much influence on applications or yield.
July 8th, 2005 at 5:19 pm
Both Kassin and Taylor are on the faculty roster for next year. It looks like Taylor has been spending one semester at Columbia and one at Williams.
July 11th, 2005 at 5:19 pm
Professor Gluck’s departure was a very big “ouch.”
Professor Gluck has a very unique style and was instrumental in many students creative expansion. She served as a wonderful mentor to those that wanted to continue their careers to the heights she has reached. She was also one of only two profs in my time that primarily focused on creative poetry. She worked very well with Professor Raab and they were quite an impressive duo in my opinion. Without both of their help I never would have come as far as a writer as I have.
Also, she normally taught only one or two classes but was a thesis advisor to many students who appreciated how available (by phone) and honest she was with us.
So yes, it was a big loss when she left. Poets will still accomplish great things at Williams…but it is virtually impossible to replace her.
True it may not effect applications or yield, but if those are Williams greatest concerns, then maybe we are farther from the student on the log than we thought.
July 20th, 2005 at 1:43 pm
Gluck, Taylor, Goethals and Kassin are some of the most high-profile professors that Williams has (had, in Gluck’s case.) In addition to being high-profile, they were also very demanding academically, and excellen professors who were worth their pay and more. It was surprising to me how much I learned about rhetoric and other things simply by taking one poetry class with her.
Add in Gary Jacobson’s departure (who I personally didn’t think was a stellar professor), and it makes me wonder why a number of senior professors are leaving Williams in a relatively short number of years for other pastures.