In an almost unbelievable decision, the University of Chicago has denied Sean Carrol tenure. I may write later here about how ridiculous the system of tenure has become in academia, but meanwhile, I am sure Sean could use some bucking up, and we should encourage him not to let up on posting, thereby depriving us of his inimitable, rational, bright and clear voice. Please go to Preposterous Universe and leave a comment urging Sean to keep blogging. Here is how Sean has bravely announced the bad news:
The bad news is that I’ve been denied tenure at Chicago. It came as a complete surprise, I hadn’t anticipated any problems at all. But apparently there are a few of our faculty who don’t think much of my research. A stylistic clash, I imagine. And a handful of dissenters is all it takes to derail a tenure case. I don’t think there are many people in the outside world who believe that the University of Chicago is better off without me than with me, but there seems to be an anomalously high concentration of them among my own colleagues.
So now I am on the job market again. Which is sad, both because of the intrinsically demoralizing nature of the job market, and because I cannot tell you how much I love this city and the friends I have made here. It truly feels like home to me. But I’m hopeful of getting a position at some other great place and flourishing there — doing well is the best revenge.
In the meantime, though, blogging will likely be a low priority. I’m not going to stop, but my former ambition to put something up every day (no matter how lame) is going to be set aside as I concentrate on other things.
See what Mark Trodden has to say about Sean here.