David Helfand
Encyclopedia
David J. Helfand is chair of the Department of Astronomy
at Columbia University
as well as the co-director of the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory. He has also served as part of the university's Physics Department
. His stated research interests include radio surveys, the origin and evolution of neutron stars and supernova remnants, and active galactic nuclei. Recently, Helfand has been instrumental in the creation of general education classes oriented around the sciences, developing a course, Frontiers of Science, that has subsequently become part of the Core Curriculum of Columbia College
, the university's undergraduate liberal arts and sciences division.
Dr. Helfand joined Quest University
in British Columbia
, Canada, as a Visiting Tutor in 2007 and now serves as Quest's President. On July 18, 2011, a Quest media person reports that Helfand has taken a long term leave of absence from Columbia.
Helfand holds a Bachelor of Arts
from Amherst College
and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Helfand notably declined an offer of tenure
from Columbia in the early 1980s, due to his belief that the tenure system erodes the motivation of senior scholars to be productive. He advocates a system in which each senior professor's job performance is reviewed every six years by a five-member ad hoc
faculty committee, which would then recommend whether the professor should be retained or dismissed. In such a system, each professor would serve on one such ad hoc committee per year, except for the year in which he himself is being reviewed. Although his proposed system is unorthodox, Columbia agreed to implement it in Helfand's case.
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
as well as the co-director of the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory. He has also served as part of the university's Physics Department
Columbia University Physics Department
thumb|Pupin Hall, home of the Physics Department The Columbia University Physics Department includes approximately 40 faculty members teaching and conducting research in the areas of astrophysics, high energy nuclear physics, high energy particle physics, laser and condensed matter physics, and...
. His stated research interests include radio surveys, the origin and evolution of neutron stars and supernova remnants, and active galactic nuclei. Recently, Helfand has been instrumental in the creation of general education classes oriented around the sciences, developing a course, Frontiers of Science, that has subsequently become part of the Core Curriculum of Columbia College
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...
, the university's undergraduate liberal arts and sciences division.
Dr. Helfand joined Quest University
Quest University
Quest University Canada is a private non-profit liberal arts and sciences university in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. The university opened in September 2007 with an enrolment of 74 students; its current enrolment is 300. Quest University is located on a mountain-top campus on the edge of...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada, as a Visiting Tutor in 2007 and now serves as Quest's President. On July 18, 2011, a Quest media person reports that Helfand has taken a long term leave of absence from Columbia.
Helfand holds a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Helfand notably declined an offer of tenure
Tenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
from Columbia in the early 1980s, due to his belief that the tenure system erodes the motivation of senior scholars to be productive. He advocates a system in which each senior professor's job performance is reviewed every six years by a five-member ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
faculty committee, which would then recommend whether the professor should be retained or dismissed. In such a system, each professor would serve on one such ad hoc committee per year, except for the year in which he himself is being reviewed. Although his proposed system is unorthodox, Columbia agreed to implement it in Helfand's case.