LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe unveiled the university’s newest approach to promoting scholarly excellence, called the Multidisciplinary Hiring Initiative, or MHI, on May 15 at the House Appropriations Committee’s meeting to review the higher education portion of the appropriations bill.
The MHI redefines the traditional concept of faculty recruitment by aggressively pursuing and hiring multiple high profile faculty members to create interdisciplinary areas of national prominence. These hires will enhance existing areas of strength at LSU by creating large groups of top faculty who can collaborate and support one another, allowing for the possibility of significant gains in research and scholarship.
The MHI is another method that LSU is using to achieve its Flagship Agenda goals of improving the university and its faculty and students. It supports the National Flagship Agenda by increasing research productivity and long-term economic development, increasing the number and quality of students at the university, converting scientific and technological discoveries into new products and processes, applying university resources to solve economic, environmental and educational challenges and improving the national reputation of the university.
LSU is currently pursuing three areas of focus with the MHI, which will result in a total of up to 36 new faculty hires:
- Materials Science Initiative: This area will expand the analysis and theoretical understanding of the basic properties of materials, allowing the design of stronger, more lightweight materials for use in aircraft and automobiles; more advanced magnetic materials allowing for greater data storage on computers; faster and more reliable electronic materials used in cell phones and DVD players; and new and improved “lab on a chip” technology that has homeland security applications. The initiative will bring together physics, chemistry and engineering, along with the College of Basic Sciences, the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices, or CAMD, and the Center for Computation and Technology, or CCT, among others.
- Atlantic Studies Initiative: This focus will work to establish LSU as a leader in an emerging scholarly area integrating the study of environment, history and culture. The university’s unique position at the intersection of Anglo, French and Hispanic colonial worlds, in addition to its strong Caribbean and African influences, offers the potential for significant contributions in multidisciplinary regional studies. This initiative, which will involve faculty from the departments of English, history and geography and anthropology, will study how environmental changes such as hurricanes can affect cultures and will further the understanding of the heritage, history and culture of the South. It will also offer the opportunity to show how global climate and history continue to impact the region and Louisiana’s economy.
- Computational Science Initiative: This initiative will focus on modeling complex and natural processes, including those of particular interest to the region, such as hurricane behavior and coastal erosion, and will fuel Louisiana’s economic development with a talented, IT-based workforce, giving Louisiana a much more competitive appeal to companies looking for expansion opportunities. It will involve faculty from the departments of engineering, chemistry, computer science, music, mathematics, biological sciences, oceanography, physics and astronomy.
Once established, each area of focus is expected to attract exceptionally competitive post-doctoral and research associates and high-ranking graduate and doctoral students. Each will also work toward generating numerous grants and awards and high-profile research and results, new ideas and intellectual capital. New areas of focus will be selected and pursued each year.
For more information about the Multidisciplinary Hiring Initiative, please contact Ashley Berthelot at 225-578-3870 or aberth4@lsu.edu.
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