Grow the size of our faculty
The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences must grow if it wishes to fulfill the goals related to undergraduate education. Growth is also essential if we wish to compete on a level playing field with our peers in terms of reputation, ranking, and accomplishment.
Our strategies
Realize investments in units identified as institutional priorities.
In recent years, the Krieger School has leveraged institutional strengths in key research areas to garner several significant gifts capable of transforming the school’s contributions to research and discovery. The Krieger School must continue to support investments in the Bloomberg Distinguished Professors Program, the SNF Agora Institute, the William H. Miller III Department of Philosophy, the William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the Department of English.
Sustain excellence in highly ranked departments and those poised to excel.
The Krieger School houses several elite departments whose exceptional faculty devote their time to research, teaching, and service. Growth of the faculty can produce exponential benefits, generating more opportunities for faculty collaboration and transforming the student experience through increased opportunities for research and mentorship. Strategic growth will increase the school’s reputation even further, contributing to the collective excellence of a premiere school of arts and sciences.
Increase the profile of the humanities.
Currently, the Krieger School is home for eight endowed professorships held by faculty members whose work and influence spans multiple fields within the humanities. We aim to increase the number of endowed professorships in the humanities to 14. Doing so will serve as a recruitment tool to establish a core group of tenured faculty in the humanities. Our vision is that these faculty members will be eager to further the interdisciplinary nature of their work, even as they engage deeply with undergraduate education and the public humanities.
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. Cluster hires and joint appointments in areas such as neuroscience, artificial intelligence, data intensive social sciences, sustainability and climate change, trans-Asian studies, and Africana studies are expanding the reach of these interdisciplinary fields.
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.