An Observation

Looking back through ChemBark's and my own surveys for new chemistry faculty, I'm a bit gobsmacked.

Sunlight through leaves, 2014

Unless I'm miscounting, 86 faculty were hired in the general chemistry space over the past year, and 86 again for last season. Now, I'm willing to admit that we haven't caught everyone hired over the past 2 years; heck, I'm even willing to suggest that the actual figure might double.

So, let's say that, according to our bloggy survey, 172 new faculty start every year in Chemistry-themed fields. Is that a lot? No, not according to the 2012 NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates. This study claims that U.S. schools graduated 2,418 Chemistry doctorates. Of those, only about half knew what they were going to do after graduation - their "definite commitment."

According to some more NSF numbers, almost a third of all physical science students go on to careers in "Academe." Perhaps this category catches new professors, adjuncts, non-tenure-track, and postdocs alike? (Leigh did this analysis much better than I!). For chemistry, NSF heard only 113 definite commitments in 2012 for non-postdoctoral academic employment. Even if we (generously) assume that they're all professors, that's only 5%!

Sadly, this number jives well with what our bloggy "New Hires" survey* captures. I'm seeing 7%, which is still a far cry from the 20% Ethan Perlstein suggests for the life sciences, or the NSF's 26% for chemistry.

Compare that against the 800 or so folks (33%) reporting postdoc landing spots. Or the 712 (29%) reporting that they're "seeking employment or study."
I guess professorships truly are the new alternative career.

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*I'm fully willing to admit that NSF has statisticians, education specialists, and a tried-and-true method, whilst we have folks chiming in over the Internets. Still, I'd be typing a lot more if I'd've received 600 names instead of just under 100.

Naming Rights

(Thanks to the July issue of WIRED magazine for the tip-off)
(Check updates, below, for folks who've reminded me of more chemist-named facilities)

Andre Young and Jimmy Iovino:
Music Entrepreneurs / Academy Founders
(Wonder which guy gets to set the new dress code?)
Credit: Sam Jones | USC

Could you receive a doctorate from Dr. Dre?
Not yet, but maybe soon...

I somehow missed the announcement a few months ago:
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovino, two highly successful music entrepreneurs, donated a chunk of change to USC. The result? The USC Iovino Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation.
(Tagline: The Degree Is In Disruption.)

The program creates an L.A-based  incubator, with courses like "Marketing Radical Innovations," and "Managing New Enterprises." The students spend their fourth year working, quite literally, in a space dubbed "The Garage," filled with tools, gadgets, computers, and other budding entrepreneurs.

How much did this new Academy set Jimmy and Dre back? A cool $70 million. Not too shabby, for two guys who never went to college.

This got me thinking: Do chemists ever buy naming rights?

Most of us would be content to be known for a specific reaction or process - 'named reaction' books get reprinted almost annually. Sometimes well-known professors sponsor or are honored with named professorships, such as the Cram or Vedejs Chairs. One famous Nobelist even garnered his own Institute. Rarer still, chemists whose research translates into industry can name buildings (Silverman Hall), institutes (Warner-Babcock), or create charitable organizations (the Kenan Trust).

But, sponsoring entire academic programs? The only chemist* I can recall doing that is Jack Welch, with two programs: a "Management Institute" at Strayer, and the business school at Sacred Heart.

Too much money? Admittedly, most chemists only make a fraction of $70 mil over the course of a career. But, the top dogs at large chemical companies might come closer. So, how about it, guys? Who wants to see the Liveris Institute? The Svanberg Charitable Trust?

Better still? The Witty Professorship (that one just writes itself!)

*OK, OK, he's Chem-E. Close enough for this discussion.

1. Updates (7/7/13) - On the twitterz, James Banal points out that Ahmed Zewail (1999 Chem Nobel) has a Research Park ("city") named for him.
2. Learned that Jack Welch also named a business school at SHU. Text edited to reflect same.
3. On Twitter, Matt Hartings points to the Beckman Institute (Illinois and CA!), and Moore Centre (Cambridge) / Moore Labs (CalTech)
4. In the Comments, CE points out the (ironic) exclusion of one Alfred Nobel, he of the eponymous Prize, and Max Planck, he of the eponymous Institute.
5. Anon points to the Sanger Institute, the Curie Institute, and the Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab.

Chemistry Bumper Cars II

For Bumper Cars I, click here.

Well, I was holding off until Spring had officially sprung, but they're coming too fast and furious to wait any longer. Thanks to Paul for starting the engine on this season of thrilling, chilling chemistry faculty moves!

I'm a visual learner and amateur cartographer-in-training, so let's chart out Paul's confirmed moves (as of March 2013):

(click to embiggen)

Legend

1. John (Wedge)Wood, CSU to Baylor
2. Corey (Saffron) Stephenson, BU to Michgan
3. Sharon Hammes-(Silver)Schiffer, Penn State to Illinois
4. Kyoung-Shin (Cherry) Choi, Purdue to UW
5. Shih-Yuan (Lavender) Liu, Oregon to BC
6. Patrick (Yale Blue) Holland, Rochester to Yale
7. Andrei (Teal) Tokmakoff, MIT to Chicago
8. Xiaoyang (Green) Zhu, Austin to Columbia
9. Glenn (Orange) Micalizio, Scripps FL to Dartmouth
10. Thomas (Tan) Albrecht-Schmitt, Notre Dame to FSU
11. Phil (Purple) Castellano, Bowling Green to NCSU
12. Jer(Red)my Smith, NMSU to Indiana
13. Adam (Brown)schweig, NYU to Miami
14. Paul (Pink) Cremer, TAMU to Penn State
(Update 3/29)
15. Brian (Olive) Shoichet, UCSF to Toronto

Commentary: Most of the "action" seems constrained to the Eastern seaboard so far this season. In terms of overall distance, Prof. Liu takes the cake (3,000 miles), with runner-up (just added: Brian Shoichet, at 2,300 miles) Prof. Zhu (1,800) and Micalizio (1,400). This time around, there isn't so clear a trend of moving "up the ladder" rankings-wise or towards warmer climes; folks move everywhere! (Readers, if you spot a trend in this messy data, let me know in the comments)

Craziness: This only represents movement for the past seven months! Who knows what the rest of 2013 will bring? Tune in for the next exciting Chemistry Bumper Cars installment.

Thanks again to ChemBark for starting the conversation.

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Update, 3/29 - Paul's site brought word of Shoichet, and Andre the Chemist aggregated and scored the moves based on U.S. News departmental rankings. Well done!

Chemistry Bumper Cars

By now, most folks on the chemblogosphere have heard the rumbles about K.C. Nicolaou's possible departure from Scripps. His landing spot looks to be Rice University, in Houston, aided by a generous multi-million dollar "golden parachute." Followup comments posted on Chemjobber and In the Pipeline saw speculation run rampant regarding other Scripps synthetic chemists, including M.G. Finn, Jin-Quan Yu, Phil Baran, and Dale Boger.

Wow. Does everyone have the moving bug?

I seem to recall Kyle over at The Chem Blog drawing us a convenient map a few years back, during another busy moving season (2005, I believe?). The past two years have proven quite busy as well, with no less than an entire ChemBark post entitled "Nocera to Harvard!" (vide infra).

Without further ado, I present my highly-researched, but definitely not-to-scale, map of synthetic faculty moves, 2011-2012.

Legend (Updated 9/20):
1.  Keith (purple) Woerpel, Irvine to NYU
2.  John (Berkeley blue) Hartwig, UIUC to Berkeley
3.  Vy (green) Dong, Toronto to Irvine
4.  Dan (crimson) Nocera, MIT to Harvard
5.  O(maroon) Yaghi, UCLA to Berkeley
6.  M.(Goldenrod) Finn, Scripps to Georgia Tech
7.  K.(Cyprus orange) Nicolaou, Scripps to Rice (confirmed!)
8.  Greg Fu(schia), MIT to Caltech
9.  (Rust)em Ismagilov, Chicago to Caltech
10. Paul (cyan) Chirik, Cornell to Princeton

I've been searching for a chemistry faculty movement metaphor. At the end of the NFL season, reporters write about the "coaching carousel," where coaches switch jobs circuitously, trapped on an employment merry-go-round. Well, that's not quite right here. Chemists usually move away for good, and there's clearly a directionality to the moves: towards more money, higher prestige, or warmer climes. Perhaps a Ferris wheel? Nah: it implies "up" or "down," a good view of the situation...and far too smooth a ride. Negative on the Gravitron, though grads and postdocs might feel like they're smashed by the pressing gravity* of an upcoming move.

I've got it: Bumper cars! Everyone starts out hesitantly, driving around in circles, hesitant to make first contact. After a few minutes, though, it's a free-for-all, everyone bouncing off each other, crashing, laughing, sparks flying off the ceiling. In the end, no one ends up where they started, and everyone has headaches. (Bear with me, it's a work in progress, doesn't yet have the oomph of a "Manifest Destiny" or "fiscal cliff.")

Faculty jostle for top spots like, well, you get it...

Credit: UK Telegraph

Are faculty moves unavoidable? It's true that the grass is always greener. But, if you're already a professor at a Top 20 institution, you likely receive the lion's share of grant monies, decent media coverage, and your pick from top-shelf graduate students. So why go? Some moves are nostalgia-driven - the Prof. wants to return home to a welcoming parade, having "done good." Some moves try to fix the two-body problem. Some happen because of missed tenure, or a feeling that it's "just time." Maybe in today's uncertain economy, it's just best to assume you won't be in any job longer than ten years...with a handful of exceptions.

Readers: Know of any more high-profile U-Hauls being loaded this academic season? If the "Chemistry Bumper Cars" trend persists, this might yet become an annual post.

P.S. Heard about a move I missed? Email me at seearroh_AT_gmail, and I'll add it here!

*I completely understand, having been involved with two moves in grad and postdoc.