The School of Engineering plans to add 12 new faculty members to its ranks. The first two hires will probably begin work July 1, said Lawrence Larson, dean of the school.
"Brown wants to be a top-tier research university," Larson said. "We looked internally a couple of years ago and realized (the engineering program) needs to grow."
The University may construct a new building for the engineering school in the future, Larson said, which he envisions as a home for engineering and the applied sciences.
The School of Engineering currently has 39 tenure-track faculty members, as well as research faculty and lecturers, said Larson. All of the new hires would be tenure-track positions.
The University's engineering program is relatively small compared to those of peer institutions, he said.
"If you look at Cornell, each department within (the College of Engineering) will have 20 to 30 faculty," said Associate Professor of Engineering Pedro Felzenszwalb, who previously taught as a visiting professor at Cornell.
The hiring process will pan out in two phases, Larson said. The school plans to add three new faculty members in the next five years and nine in the five years after that.
The School of Engineering was founded July 2010. "We are basically following in the footsteps of all the other Ivy schools," said Alexander Zaslavsky, professor of engineering and physics.
"I think all science departments benefit from these efforts, even when targeted at a single department, as these efforts will improve our ability to recruit the best students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels," wrote Professor of Physics Robert Pelcovits, who does not teach within the School of Engineering, in an email to The Herald.
The school will focus on expansion in nanoscience, bioengineering and energy — "all areas that benefit from interdisciplinary research" with other science departments — Pelcovits wrote.
The School of Engineering has begun extensive fundraising for the new faculty hires, Larson said.
"We have a development committee, and we're working with the people in (University) development," he said. The University will also provide funds for the new hires.
The engineering school is "currently quite constrained by laboratory space," said Zaslavsky. The laboratories in Barus and Holley are shared by multiple science departments.
Ramya Mahalingam '14, who plans to concentrate in mechanical engineering, said she has not heard engineering students discuss the faculty hiring.
"(We) just talk about how hard the midterms are and how hard this problem set is," she said.
Support for the faculty expansion is largely attributable to the engineering program's status as an official school, Larson said.
"It really means that the Corporation has given us the opportunity to take charge of our future," he said. "It's up to us to create the change."
