Museum Officials Meet to Hire Administrators

A Semitic Museum hiring committee met yesterday for the first time to discuss applicants for two new positions.

The new openings, created by the museum's advisory committee in a report last October, are for assistant curator of collections and assistant director of the museum.

Although the committee will not release information about the number or identity of the candidates, sources say that there are about 15 candidates for each position and that the committee already has a short list.

"We'll have more meetings, we'll interview candidates and then we'll pick the one we think is best," said Museum Director Lawrence E. Stager, who is also Dorot professor of the archaeology of Israel. "We hope the whole process will be finished by the end of April."

Last November the museum laid off 10 staff members. some of the employees who were let go accused the museum of laying them off for political reasons, but Stager and Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles attributed the cuts to the museum's large debt and its need to restructure.

Another committee member said that the hiring process would take some time. "It'll be going on for a while," said John Huehnergard, professor of semitic philology.

Administrative Dean of the College Nancy L. Maull, who chairs the committee, could not be reached for comment about the meeting.

Apart from those mentioned, the committee consists of Frances A. Beane, deputy director for finance and administration in the Harvard University Art Museums; Polly Price, assistant dean for human resources in the FAS; and Piotr Steinkeller, professor of Assyriology. David Pilbeam, director of the Peabody Museum, plays an advisory role on the committee but is on leave this semester.