n President Emeritus John Silber’s statements that “Professors don’t want to teach” and that they should teach more than one class, require correction (“Silber cites BU tenure as proudest work,” Mar. 7, p. 1).

The standard teaching assignment in Boston University is two courses per semester, and for non-research faculty members, three additional courses per academic year. This is the norm (and in some disciplines more than the norm) in all research-intensive universities.

In addition to classroom teaching, our professors are expected to achieve a national and international reputation as researchers: In the College of Arts and Sciences, they bring in about $65 million per year in funding for their research. They also serve as advisors to undergraduate and graduate students, and they govern their departments and all the academic programs of the college.

If our professors “don’t want to teach,” it’s news to me. Among the glories of BU is that its professors are equally accomplished as teachers and researchers, and I’m surprised that Dr. Silber didn’t list the creation of such a faculty among his many accomplishments.

Jeffrey Henderson

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences