The Justice

Media Credit: Sara Brandenburg/the Justice Outgoing Student Union President Alison Schwartzbaum '08 swore in her successor, Shreeya Sinha '09.

Prof. Jeffrey Hall (BIO), a Brandeis researcher of over 32 years and tenured as of 1979, will leave the University at the end of 2007.

Hall will teach his last classes today, but will still be on staff and finishing his research until December.

"I am retiring a bit earlier than usual," Hall said, "mostly because my research grants are running out, and it's impossible to do any research without grants."

The money for his grant comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health, a government institution that funds scientific research. After this year, Hall will no longer receive grants from the Institute.

The grants allow the University to "overhire," Hall explained. He also added that when grants run out there are no longer opportunities for undergraduate students to work in labs, something the biology department has encouraged its students to do.

"Brandeis has this really excellent mix of research and academics," he said. "This is one of the solid points of Brandeis."

Hall, however, also expressed some disappointment.

"One thing that disappoints me is that Brandeis has no support system for research," he said. He also emphasized that that many universities struggle with this problem.

"Hall has been one of the international leaders in the field of neurogenetics," Prof. Eve Marder, chair of the Biology Department said. "He was influential in establishing the field and developing it, and has done some very groundbreaking work."

-Claire Moses

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