2026-27 FAS Ladder Faculty Search Request Process

To: FAS Department and Program Chairs
Cc: FAS Steering; FAS Faculty Resource Committee; FAS Dean's Office; FAS Chair's Assistants, Operations Managers, and Lead Administrators; SEAS Dean's Office

Dear colleagues,

I write on behalf of the FAS Faculty Resource Committee (FRC) with information about the ladder faculty search request process for the 2026-27 academic year. The deadline for proposals is March 30, 2026.

We have had many hiring successes in recent years, and the FAS is now at an all-time high in numbers of faculty. As of fall 2025, there are 664 ladder faculty with primary or fully joint appointments in the FAS, and we anticipate that this will be even higher in fall 2026, exceeding the target size set by the Provost. In addition, departures have been low over the past two years. This does not mean we will be unable to authorize new searches in 2026-27, but it does mean that we will be authorizing considerably fewer than in the past few years.

As Provost Scott Strobel reminded us in his December 2025 University Budget Update, the university is facing serious budgetary uncertainty. As a result, all units across the university, including FAS, have been asked to prioritize resources for areas of greatest need. With this in mind, we will consider authorizing those searches that have the strongest research and teaching justifications, and that fill gaps in areas of critical research and undergraduate and graduate teaching needs. I therefore encourage you to include as much detail as possible in your search requests in order to make a strong case for your requested searches.

New searches

The new searches most likely to be authorized in 2026-27 are those that, in addition to addressing key needs, receive strong intellectual support from the relevant divisional advisory committee (TAC) and for which a suitable supporting slot can be identified.

Given the major limitations on central campus space, as well as some recent pauses in capital projects, we are also asking for as much detailed information as possible on space plans for your proposed searches.

Continuing searches

If you have an unresolved search from the 2025-26 academic year (that is, a search that did not result in the selection or appointment of a candidate), you may request that the search be readvertised, suspended, or discontinued by emailing fas.dean@yale.edu.

If you have an unresolved search from the 2025-26 academic year and you wish to modify the search to focus on a different area or rank, you must submit a new search request. We encourage you to speak with your divisional dean about how best to describe such requests.

Questions?

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to either your divisional dean, Senior Associate Dean Jason Zentz, or fas.dean@yale.edu.

2026-27 ladder faculty search request timeline

• March | Academic units should undertake discussions of search priorities early in the semester in anticipation of the March 30 deadline.
• March 30, 2026 | Search proposals should be submitted to the FAS Dean’s Office using the online form. Note: The form must be submitted for each individual search request. (Late requests may also be submitted, but we may not be able to respond to such requests on the timetable that follows.)
• April | Area advisory committees will review requests for searches and prepare recommendations for review by the Faculty Resource Committee (FRC).
• April, May, and June | The FRC will meet regularly during the months of April and May to discuss and approve search requests for 2026-27. We hope to be able to provide responses to the majority of spring requests by the middle of June.
• June, July, August | Late-breaking search requests will be considered by a summer subcommittee of the FRC.

Request process

Search requests must be submitted using the online form. If you are proposing a joint search with another academic unit in the FAS, only one unit needs to submit the request. If you are proposing a joint search with an academic unit in the School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS), the FAS department should submit the request after consultation with Kristin Flower, Associate Dean in the SEAS Dean’s Office. Please do not submit such a request unless both units have agreed on the area and level for the proposed search.

Basic information

• Area: In what area(s) are you proposing to search? (3–5-word short description of area).
• Rank: Is the request for a junior, junior/mid-career, senior, or open-rank position?
• Building and room number(s): Include the building and room number(s) for proposed office and/or laboratory space
• Prioritization: If your academic unit is requesting more than one new search for 2026-27, please rank each search. Leaving them unranked defers judgment of your unit’s priorities to the FRC.

Strategic overview (one pdf file per search request)

Why is this an important area for your unit to search in? How will it contribute to Yale’s commitment to supporting research and teaching in areas of enduring importance? How does this search fit into your department/program/division’s long-term plans, and commitment to a broad range of excellent scholars and teachers? Keeping in mind that devoting a ladder slot to an area means making a multi-decade commitment, how important do you expect this area to be in the next decades, as your field evolves?

Specific questions

Please ensure that you specifically address each of the following questions:

• Broad pool of excellent candidates: Is a search in this area likely to produce a broad pool of excellent candidates? If not, how might the search area be broadened to allow consideration of candidates of the highest caliber with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences?
• Teaching and mentoring: What role would you expect the candidate to play in the teaching and mentoring of undergraduates (including majors, non-majors, and students in cross- and interdisciplinary programs), of graduate students, and (where relevant) the mentoring of postdoctoral associates and junior faculty? How does this fit into your unit’s long-term teaching plans? You must include data or other information about why additional ladder faculty are needed for teaching in the area of your search. What current gaps in your curriculum would the candidate fill? Would they offer instruction in an underrepresented area, and thus advance the preservation and dissemination of knowledge of that field? The data should include, wherever possible, recent enrollments and specializations of undergraduate and graduate students that align with your requested search area.
• Space: In what office/laboratory space do you propose to house the candidate? Give specific building and room numbers. Space may be the limiting factor in some search authorizations.
• Additional resource needs: What other resource needs will be associated with the hire (laboratory renovations, library investments, special teaching facilities, equipment and setup funds, graduate student support, etc.)?
• Prioritization: If your academic unit has submitted multiple search requests, include an explanation of the priority order indicated on the webform.
• Joint search plan: If you intend to run this search in coordination with another unit, please outline the role that each unit will play in the search process and indicate the unit(s) in which the hire may receive appointments. If you expect to use a slot other than your unit’s D slot or an FAS P slot, please provide documentation of an agreement with the slot-holding unit.

We look forward to receiving your ladder faculty search requests by March 30.

Yours, 

Steven 

Steven Wilkinson
Dean
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Yale University

Faculty Resource Committee

Voting Faculty Members

Steven Wilkinson | Committee Chair; Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies; Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

Marisa Bass | Professor of the History of Art

Gary Brudvig | Benjamin Silliman Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science; Director, Yale Energy Sciences Institute

Lynn Cooley | Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; C. N. H. Long Professor of Genetics and Professor of Cell Biology and of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Emily Erikson | Professor of Sociology and Management

Larry Gladney | FAS Dean of Science; Chair, Physical Science & Engineering Advisory Committee; Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Pericles Lewis | Dean of Yale College; Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature

Fatima Naqvi | Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and Professor of Film and Media Studies

Gerard Padró | Samuel C. Park Jr. (B.A. 1925) Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science

David Post | Spring 2026 Chair, Biological Science Advisory Committee; Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Marc Robinson | FAS Dean of Humanities; Chair, Humanities Advisory Committee; Malcolm G. Chace ‘56 Professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; Professor of English and American Studies; Professor in the Practice of Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism at the David Geffen School of Drama

Tony Smith | FAS Dean of Social Science; Chair, Social Science Advisory Committee; William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Economics and Professor of Management

Non-Voting Advisory Staff

Alexandra Apolloni | FAS Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Communications

John Mangan | FAS Dean of Faculty Affairs; Senior Associate Dean

Dorottya Noble | FAS Associate Dean

Daniel Oshiro | Senior Administrative Assistant, FAS Dean’s Office

Pamela Schirmeister | Deputy Dean of Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Jason Zentz | FAS Senior Associate Dean