The University Sabbatical Fellows Program, provided by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, supports full-year sabbatical leaves and provides opportunities for highly research-active faculty to take two-semester academic leave at full base salary.

Logistics

Eligibility for the full-year sabbatical program will follow the standard 7-year sabbatical cycle. Faculty will apply to the full-year program at the same time as they submit standard requests for academic leaves. We anticipate supporting up to five University Sabbatical Fellows per year. Fellows will be selected in a process coordinated by the VPR and Provost’s Offices. As with standard leave requests, applications will be approved by relevant Department Chairs and Deans before consideration.

Criteria

  • Candidates will be selected based on a compelling case that a full year of leave will make a substantive difference to their level of research activity and/or impact (e.g., by enabling a prestigious opportunity, leading a large proposal, an unusual data collection opportunity, etc.)
  • Candidates should also show evidence of actively seeking external sabbatical support, as available by discipline (e.g., Fulbright, Guggenheim, Sage Foundation, etc.).

Funding

For each Fellow, the OVPR will provide funds to replace one-semester of teaching to departments and/or programs. This may take one of two forms: (a) OVPR will provide funds to support adjunct coverage of up to two courses, or (b) OVPR will match (at 50%) department funds to hire a visiting assistant professor for one year. Note that this program also entails generous financial support from the Colleges, which will not recoup salary they otherwise receive when faculty take full-year leaves at half pay. If an awarded University Sabbatical Fellow successfully secures external support, the university will cover the difference (if any) between the external award and the faculty member's full-year base salary.

Application process

Applications will be due at the same time as requests for academic leaves. Faculty who wish to be considered for a full-year sabbatical at full base salary will submit a proposal, via their standard application for academic leave, including the following:

  1. A one-to-two page narrative including:
    1. A compelling case that a full year of leave will substantively elevate their research activity or profile over what would be possible with the standard half-year leave;
    2. A list of (planned) external applications for sabbatical support. If an awarded University Sabbatical Fellow successfully secures external salary support, the University will cover the difference (if any) between the external award and the faculty member’s full-year base salary.
  2. An academic CV. 

The 2025-2026 cycle has concluded.We anticipate the next round of decisions being made by mid-January 2026.

Ahmed Rahman, Associate Professor, Economics. Dr. Rahman’s project will focus on the economics of education, labor, and leadership within the U.S. Navy. By analyzing the careers of naval officers from the 19th to the 21st century, he aims to answer three questions: What factors influence job changes for high-skilled workers, what makes an effective leader, and how do social connections with classmates, dormmates, and shipmates impact the migration decisions of naval officers after their military service?

Amardeep Singh, Professor, English. Dr. Singh will complete a book project exploring the concept of "catachresis" - the act of (mis)naming by dominant groups as an exertion of power - and its impact on marginalized communities. It will examine historical examples and literary works to illustrate how naming can be a tool for oppression or for resistance. He plans to develop public-facing digital resources alongside the book, including an interactive map focusing on South Asian indigenous communities.

Annabella Pitkin, Associate Professor, Religion, Culture & Society. Dr. Pitkin will use her sabbatical to finish her second book, "Imaginaries of Yogic Display: The Power and Politics of Tibetan Buddhist 'Miracle' Narratives." Her project delves into the political implications of religious discourses surrounding miracles, extraordinary individuals, and political “states of exception”, with the goal of producing a significant scholarly work that contributes to the fields of Religious Studies, Tibetan Studies, and Political Theory.

Debbie Laible, Professor, Psychology. Dr. Laible will use her sabbatical to further build a multidisciplinary research team focused on adolescent white nationalism and far-right extremism. The team aims to understand the factors contributing to the development of these sorts of beliefs, with the ultimate goal of designing and implementing effective interventions to prevent the spread of extremist ideologies. She plans to pursue significant grants from NSF, NIH, or other sources to support this research.

Himanshu Jain, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering. Dr. Jain's team has developed a new, energy-efficient fertilizer composition. His sabbatical will involve field testing, building partnerships with US and international experts, and potentially establishing a Center for Sustainable Fertilizers. He also aims to further develop Lehigh's P3 program, which focuses on training PhD students for industry careers.

Kate Arrington, Professor of Psychology. Building from an NSF-funded conference to be hosted in May 2024, Kate will lead the effort for a center-level proposal to the newly formed NSF CRISES program. The proposed center will merge computational social science and community-based participatory research approaches to address specific community crises.

Joe Kramer-Miller, Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Joe is hoping to be a visiting scholar at Columbia University for the Spring 2025 semester. In addition, Joe will be visiting Tohoku University, National Taiwan University, and Heidelberg University, to work with collaborators and give presentations on his research.

Clay Naito, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Clay will use the sabbatical fellowship to advance the state of the art on concrete bridge construction. Specifically, he will be collaborating with the Federal Highway Administration on the use of Ultra High Performance Concrete for improving the resilience of US infrastructure. He will also be collaborating with the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute on developing concrete bridge design and assessment standards for U.S. designers and transportation officials.

Monica Najar, Associate Professor of History. Monica is looking forward to finishing a book manuscript on the life of Maria Monk, the famous (infamous) “runaway nun” of the nineteenth century. Monk claimed she had been abused in a Catholic convent and her narrative became an international bestseller. Moving beyond what her book can teach us about anti-Catholicism before the Civil War, Monica explores Monk’s fame, and descent in poverty and prostitution to understand the gender and sexual politics of the antebellum era.