Next: History of the Case

Fighting for Tenure:
The Jenny Harrison Case Opens Pandora's Box of Issues About Tenure, Discrimination, and the Law

Allyn Jackson¹

This article is intended to inform the mathematical sciences community about a tenure case in mathematics that has received international publicity and has been discussed widely in the community. Ordinarily, the Notices and the AMS would avoid discussion of individual tenure cases. In particular, the Society takes no stand on this case. However, the large amount of publicity and discussion about this case made it important that the Notices attempt to provide information about it to the community. In addition, the case raises broader issues about tenure reviews, grievance procedures, and dispute resolution that are of interest to the academic community.

On July 1, 1993, the University of California at Berkeley appointed Jenny Harrison to a full professorship in the Department of Mathematics. The action ended a legal battle between Harrison and the university, in which Harrison charged sex discrimination in the university's 1986 decision to deny her tenure. The mathematical community and the general public have, through various press accounts as well as the rumor mill, followed developments in the case over the past seven years. The decision to appoint Harrison was based on the recommendation of a review committee set up in confidential settlement negotiations between Harrison and the university. The hope was that the use of an outside committee would bring a fresh impartiality that would satisfy both sides. Although some in the department are happy about the outcome, and others are just relieved that the case has been resolved, a vocal minority has expressed strong criticism of Harrison's actions and of the review process.

Harrison and her supporters maintain that she was the victim of sex discrimination in the Berkeley department, which resulted in unfair treatment and a biased review of her tenure case. Her opponents say her claims of discrimination are groundless and have strongly criticized the procedure the university used in resolving the fight. Who is right and who is wrong? It is not an easy question.

• History of the Case
• Grievance about the Tenure Review
• A Position at Oxford
• Standards for Tenure
• Charges of Discrimination
• In the Public Eye
• The Review Committee
• Reactions in the Department
• The AWM's Position

Next: History of the Case

Copyright ©1994 American Mathematical Society. Reprinted with permission.
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