Faculty Focus

Harvard University's Division of Science has launched five faculty searches related to artificial intelligence, according to The Harvard Crimson. The move signals the university's push to expand AI expertise across its science departments, adding new professorships focused on the fast-growing field. It comes as universities worldwide compete to hire leading AI researchers and build out teaching and research capacity in machine learning and related areas.

Pennsylvania State University has announced that four faculty members have joined its Institute of Energy and the Environment. The institute brings together researchers across disciplines to work on energy and environmental challenges, and the new appointments expand its expertise in those fields. The announcement is drawing attention among those following university research on energy and sustainability.

McDaniel College's biology department is holding its Fall Research Symposium, titled 'Antennae, Tentacles, and Beyond'. The event showcases student and faculty research in biology, with a focus apparently on invertebrate organisms such as insects and other creatures with antennae or tentacles. It is part of the college's regular academic calendar highlighting undergraduate research work.

The Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at UC Santa Barbara has introduced a new undergraduate major, education and society, broadening its offerings beyond graduate study. The move lets undergraduates study education from social and policy perspectives. The student paper Daily Nexus reported the announcement, and campus discussion is likely focused on what courses the major will include and who can enroll.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a halt to tenure appointments for civilian faculty at US military academies. The move pauses career security for professors at institutions such as West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy, and is being reported by military-focused outlets. It has drawn attention amid ongoing debates over political influence in military education and the Pentagon's management of academic staff.

Faculty from the University of North Carolina Wilmington are set to take part in a community summit focused on artificial intelligence. The event will bring together academics and local community members to discuss AI and its implications. Details about the summit's date, speakers, and agenda have not been made available beyond the announcement itself.

The Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University hosted political theorist Teresa Bejan for a book lunch focused on her work First Among Equals. The event gave students and faculty a chance to discuss Bejan's arguments about equality and its role in political thought, continuing the institute's programming that brings scholars together for informal academic conversation around new books.

Instructure has published its first Edtech Top 40 list for higher education, extending a quality-focused ranking it previously ran for the K-12 sector. The company says the new list aims to answer the edtech quality conversation at university level, highlighting the tools and platforms colleges are actually adopting. The move signals growing scrutiny of which education technologies genuinely serve students and faculty in higher education.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that US military academies will stop granting tenure to civilian faculty, framing the move as part of a broader push to focus the service academies on warfighting. The decision affects professors at institutions such as West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy, and is expected to draw debate over academic freedom and military education priorities.

The UC Berkeley School of Public Health has announced Lesley Park as a new member of its faculty. The introduction highlights her addition to the school's academic staff, though details about her research focus and background were not provided in the announcement.