The Brandeis faculty has received an infusion of diversity this semester, with new professors coming in from as far as Switzerland and Iran. Fourteen of the University's 34 new faculty members this year were born in foreign countries, according to a list provided to the Justice by Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe and Provost Marty Krauss. Both Jaffe and Krauss said there were no specific efforts underway to recruit international professors, though they stressed they're always looking for ways to diversify the faculty body.

"The United States represents a relatively small fraction of the world's population," Jaffe said. "If you're looking for the best person in a given field, it shouldn't be surprising that with some frequency that person is not an American citizen."

Jaffe and Krauss also agreed that having international professors will enhance students' academic experiences.

"It enriches the student's experience because they'll be.learning from the people who are from the regions of the world they are teaching about," Krauss said. She added that the new Office of Global Affairs, established earlier this year, will make Brandeis more attractive to foreign professors.

Prof. Ki Hyoung Ko (MATH), who finished his doctorate in mathematics at Brandeis in 1984, returns to the University this year from his sabbatical.

"Every five years I visit somewhere [for my sabbatical]," Ko said. "The Brandeis math department has a professor whose interests are similar to mine, so I came here."

Calling Brandeis a "growing university," Ko said he saw many changes on campus since the last time he was here, "[But], the math department didn't change much," he said.

Prof. Nader Habibi (ECON), originally from Iran, said that so far he hasn't had negative experiences at Brandeis. This could have occured because of the political conflicts between his native country and the United States and Israel, he said.

"I have really enjoyed the intellectual environment [and] the opportunity to interact with the faculty from various departments," Habibi said. "The students seem to be very bright, so I'm looking forward to teaching them."

Prof. Yu Feng (CHIN), from Beijing, also said he was impressed with the ability of his students. Who are already able to speak Chinese after just a few weeks in his Beginner's Chinese course, he said. Feng added that he wants to help expand the East Asian Studies program.

"I'm planning to add more courses such as Chinese philosophy," he said.

Feng said that the Brandeis campus environment is much more open and inviting than what he remembered from Chinese universities, which he said have particularly high levels of security. He recalled that when left his home country in 1993, guards checked the IDs of anyone entering Chinese universities and only let expected visitors in. At Brandeis, however, there are no "closed gates," Feng said. He added that in some classes in China, students weren't allowed to ask questions.

Prof. Joelle Tomb (FREN), who was born in Lebanon, grew up in Canada and came to the U.S. after marrying an American, said that Brandeis students have exceeded her expectations so far.

"Most of [my students] never miss class," she said. "They are extremely polite, which is not the impression I had in general of students nowadays."

Prof. Beroslav Marusic, who joins the philosophy department, was born in Croatia but grew up in Switzerland.

"I've always thought very highly of this country," he said.