Grow the size and impact of our faculty
Growth of our faculty is essential if we wish to compete on a level playing field with our peers in terms of reputation, ranking, and accomplishment. The Krieger School aspires to increase the size of the tenure-line faculty to 430, thereby placing us closer to the median of our peers and extending the reach of teaching and research. Growth must remain strategic in the headwinds of new financial pressures, as the Krieger School also works to support and retain our current pre-eminent faculty and drive toward the greatest possible impact of every faculty member’s research portfolio.
Our strategies
Realize investments in institutional priorities.
In recent years, the Krieger School has leveraged our exceptional strengths in key research areas to garner significant gifts capable of transforming the school’s contributions to research and discovery. We have completed faculty hiring in the Department of English and recruited new faculty into the SNF Agora Institute, the William H. Miller III Department of Philosophy, and the William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy. The Krieger School continues to be a key partner in the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships Program, a position we aim to maintain via recruitment through defined clusters, including the emerging clusters with the Data Science and AI Institute.
Sustain excellence in pre-eminent departments and those poised to excel.
The Krieger School houses 23 departments whose exceptional faculty devote their time to research, teaching, and service. The growth of our faculty will bring an accompanying increase in opportunities for collaboration and mentorship on our campus and recognition from beyond. At the same time, we must also invest in our core: the faculty already in the Krieger School; the foundational areas of expertise that pre-eminent departments are rooted in; and the complex infrastructure that supports our ambitious research enterprise.
Increase the profile of the arts and humanities.
The Krieger School has incredible strengths in arts and humanities, ranging from our high-visibility creative writing faculty to acclaimed art historians and internationally recognized literary scholars, historians, and philosophers. We will amplify our faculty’s work and spark collaboration through participation in the university’s Arts Initiative. Our school-based focal point for public humanities, the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute, will continue to develop organizational partnerships and innovative programming that makes the Hopkins humanities a vital locus of community engagement.
Invest in emerging fields of study across the arts and sciences.
The Krieger School has identified several key fields of study that involve multiple departments and programs. Through cluster hires and joint appointments, we are expanding our reach into interdisciplinary fields. To fully explore the contours of fields that cross disciplines and spheres of relevance, the Krieger School must lean into institutional opportunities—such as the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorship Program, our new School of Government and Policy, and our existing partnerships with the Whiting School of Engineering, the School of Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the School of Advanced International Studies—and attend to how inquiry is enlarged and enlivened by a plurality of intellectual viewpoints. In addition, Krieger School faculty hold unique resources and expertise for the university’s historic, interdivisional investment in the potential of data science and AI firmly integrated with ethics.
Our accomplishments
2024-2025
Faculty hiring and departmental expansions
In 2024-25, the Krieger School continued to make strategic hires, with new faculty joining the school in July 2025 in a variety of departments, including Biophysics, Chemistry, History of Art, Mathematics, Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Sociology. Newly recruited faculty in the departments of Chemistry, Economics, and Sociology will support the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor clusters in sustainable transformations and energy; epigenome sciences; and advancing racial equity in health, housing, and education. In addition, the Center for Africana Studies will welcome two faculty this fall, jointly appointed in the departments of History and Sociology, respectively.
Faculty honors and recognitions
Krieger School faculty continue to earn prestigious awards for their research and scholarship. In 2024-25, four faculty were awarded Guggenheim Fellowships, four faculty earned Sloan Research Fellowships, three faculty were named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and two faculty became members of the National Academy of Sciences. Such recognitions continue to shape our national reputation as evidenced in sustained or improved rankings in the humanities and social sciences. U.S. News & World Report released new program rankings for the departments of Economics (21st), English (8th), History (10th), and Sociology (24th). Investments in Philosophy were also recognized through a new ranking of 16th, a substantial change from its previous ranking of 31st.
Investments in emerging fields
The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences will continue to expand its expertise, partnering with the emerging Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Initiative on three newly awarded Bloomberg Distinguished Professorship clusters, including: (1) Artificial and Natural Intelligence (Cognitive Science, Computer Science), (2) Big Data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Computational Social Sciences (Economics, Political Science, SNF Agora Institute, Sociology) and (3) Theoretical Foundations of (Machine) Learning (Physics & Astronomy, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics and Statistics). In addition, the Krieger School is helping to shape the new School of Government and Policy, with two professors as the first of several faculty who will hold joint appointments between the two schools.
2023-2024
Expanding faculty hiring through transformational gifts
During AY2023-24, the Krieger School welcomed new faculty in the William H. Miller III Department of Philosophy, the William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Department of English, and the SNF Agora Institute. Searches have continued in each unit, and the school will welcome several new faculty members in fall 2024 and in the coming years, including faculty associated with Bloomberg Distinguished Professorship clusters in Epigenome Sciences, Imaging and Quantum Technologies, and Sustainable Transformations and Energy.
Department expansions and faculty honors
Several departments have initiated strategic expansion, including Biology, Biophysics, Mathematics, and Sociology. In addition, KSAS continues to grow in stature this year through the accomplishments of its faculty. Most notably, two Krieger School professors have been awarded 2024 Guggenheim Fellowships, three faculty have been recognized this year as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one Sloan Research Fellow was awarded in Chemistry and one in Physics. In addition, we secured an endowed gift to establish the Winter Family Chair in Mathematics. Over the last year, KSAS has increased its tenure line faculty from 355 to 382.
Investments in emerging fields
Through participation in the Fannie Gaston-Johansson Faculty of Excellence Program, the Krieger School has hired new faculty associated with Africana Studies and Latin American, Caribbean, and LatinX Studies. Several faculty members have also submitted proposals for clusters in the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorship Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Initiative, which may expand our collaborative reach in these areas.