This year more than 10 professors were granted tenure by their departments.
The departments' decisions remain subject to the approval of the College's Board of Trustees.
Among those professors who received tenure were Religion Professor Susan Ackerman, Native American Studies Professor Colin Calloway, who was hired with tenure by the Native American Studies Program, German and Comparative Literature Professor Gerd Gemuenden and Engineering Professor Ursula Gibson.
Geography Professor Frank Magilligan, History Professor Annelise Orleck, Music Professor Larry Polansky, Mathematics Professor Daniel Rockmore, Spanish and Portuguese Professor Silvia Spitta and English Professor Melissa Zeiger also received tenure.
Gibson said she was pleased to have been awarded tenure. "It simplifies life," she said. "It is one less thing to worry about."
Magilligan said, "For me it's a great opportunity to work on bigger theoretical questions."
Magilligan said when professors are working to achieve tenure they often do not have the luxury of attacking larger theoretical issues because they feel pressure to produce as much work as possible.
Rockmore said tenure gives professors the opportunity to investigate difficult issues in-depth.
"I am happy about" receiving tenure, Rockmore said. "One of the nicest things about it is that it allows you to think about projects which may take a while to produce results."
But departments denied tenure to several professors this year.
Chemistry department Chair John Winn said Assistant Professor Michael Walters was not granted tenure this year.
Earth Sciences Assistant Professor Kenneth Belitz was also denied tenure, as was French Assistant Professor David Rollo.
In the Spanish and Portuguese department, Assistant Professor Jorge Hernandez-Martin was denied tenure and Associate Professor Jose Colmeiro was given a one-year extension.
Government department Chair Nelson Kasfir said the department is still deliberating over granting tenure to Assistant Professor James Murphy and has not reached a decision yet.
No professors in the anthropology, art history, biology, computer science, economics, education, philosophy, physics, Russian or sociology departments were up for tenure this year.
Members of the drama and philosophy departments declined to comment about which professors had been granted tenure.
The African American studies, Asian and Middle Eastern languages and literatures, biochemistry, biological sciences, classics, film studies, linguistics and cognitive sciences psychology, studio art and women's studies departments could not be reached for comment.
The environmental studies and Latin American and Caribbean programs could also not be reached for comment.
