J. Lorand Matory, co-chair of Harvard's Association of Black Faculty, Administrators and Fellows, will join Duke as chair of the African and African American Studies department in July 2009, relocating to the Gothic Wonderland after nearly two decades in Cambridge.
The professor of anthropology and AAAS received his bachelor's degree from Harvard and held appointments at the university for 18 years. But he was a vocal critic of former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, and he leaves raising questions about the ethnic diversity of the Ivy League university's faculty.
"Duke made it very clear that they very much wanted to have me," Matory told The Boston Globe. "The dean of [Harvard's] Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Mike Smith, did not make that as clear.... Harvard clearly has an insufficient number of African-American professors, and it's being abandoned by one more."
George McLendon, dean of Trinity College and dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences, said the University surveyed leaders in the field of African and African American Studies and couldn't help but notice the frequency with which Matory's name kept popping up.
"The answer came from a lot of people: 'The best person is [Matory], but you will not be able to move him,'" McLendon said. "Whenever someone tells me I can't do something, that really motivates me."
Because of its location below the Mason-Dixon line, McLendon noted that Duke has a special voice in discussions on African-American affairs-making Matory's hiring a particular coup.
"Since Duke is the premier university in the South, it has a different place in understanding the role of African Americans within our nation," McLendon said. "[Matory] is a leading figure in understanding roles of race within the United States-he has the right profile."
McLendon added that as the University pursues internationalization-developing sites overseas and sending more students abroad than ever with DukeEngage-a knowledge of the African continent will be critical.
Until Matory's July arrival, the AAAS department will be chaired by associate professor Thavolia Glymph. Glymph and Matory will work closely in the interim, McLendon noted.
Previously, the department was led by associate professor Charles Piot, who is on leave but remains a member of the faculty, McLendon said.
"Nobody gets made chairman for life-that would be cruel and unusual punishment," McLendon explained. "It was the broad perspective that Duke might do better to look outside, and Harvard's not a bad place to recruit people from."
The hiring represents a curious role reversal for the two universities. In 1991, English professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. left to chair Harvard's Afro-American Studies Department after just one year at Duke, characterizing his time at the University as the most racist experience of his life. But in discussions with Duke administrators, Matory was met with a reception that was more welcoming than Harvard's in both terms and tone, he told The Boston Globe.
"I think [Matory] viewed Duke as a place where he could make a difference in a way that was going to be harder for him to make a difference at Harvard," McLendon said. "We tried to give him that opportunity to make a difference."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.