In math dept., tenure an elusive achievement

In most departments, at most universities, junior professors vie for the prestige and job security offered by tenure — lifetime job security.

While seeking tenure, junior faculty members scramble to get themselves published to set themselves apart.

However, at the University's mathematics department, a world-renowned programs, the story is completely different.

In the last 18 years, the department has tenured only two professors.

The legacy leaves a distinct impression among junior faculty.

"We come not expecting to get tenure," said assistant professor Jordan Ellenberg, who is leaving at the end of the year for a post at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Our department's practice is that junior positions are not tenure-track."

But young faculty don't seem to resent their dire chances of getting tenure. Rather, they come to Princeton expecting to leave before the hiring question even arises.

"People don't get turned down for tenure here," Ellenberg said. "We're here for a certain amount of time and then we apply for jobs somewhere else."

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Math officials give several reasons for the department's hiring history. They said they prefer hiring already-established professors who have tenure at other institutions, many of whom come from other countries.

Only standouts receive tenure directly, and the department rarely has a hard time figuring out who they are, professor and undergraduate adviser Robert Gunning said.

"There are stars and superstars, and they do stand out rather brightly," said Gunning, who received tenure in the early 1960s.

The last person to receive tenure directly, Igor Rodnianski, researches general relativity and quantum physics.

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With one collaborator, Rodnianski developed a new, more concise proof for the stability of Minkowski space, a four-dimensional explanation of space.

Born in Ukraine, Rodnianski is one of many international professors in the department.

As Gunning suggests, this diversity partially explains the difficulty of attaining tenure.

"You're competing across the world," he said.

More than half of the tenured math faculty is international — with countries including Romania, India, England, China, Russia, Belgium and Czech Republic.

"Math is sort of universal," Gunning said. "You can appreciate math done all over the world. There's not, say, American mathematics or European."

The math's department international reputation, professors said, sets it apart and is one reason young professors come to Princeton even without hope of tenure.

"For many young people who spend a few years here, it's a very important part of their professional development," said Edward Nelson, a math professor for more than four decades.

"It's certainly different from other math departments," he noted. "It's such an excellent department."

For assistant professors like Ellenberg, they understand that a few years at Princeton might be enough to launch a career.

"We're sort of at the center of the world here," Ellenberg said, calling the University a "springboard" into positions at other institutions. "We have a very big junior faculty, much bigger than it could be if the University were seriously considering us all for tenure," Ellenberg added.