Faculty Support: The Key to Excellence in SAS

In April 1999, Dean Sam Preston released the SAS Strategic Plan to the University community. The plan identifies the School’s priorities and plots a course to achieve excellence in each. At the heart of every goal is the need for maintaining the excellence of our faculty. In this interview, Dean Preston discusses the ways in which endowed chairs contribute to faculty quality.

Q. What do endowed chairs do for the School of Arts and Sciences?

A. We use chairs to honor exceptional facuty members and to support their research and teaching. In many instances, chairs are critical in retaining faculty who receive offers from other institutions. The key is having the chair available at the time a counteroffer is needed. For example, last year one of SAS’s top condensed matter physicists received a very attractive recruitment package from the University of Texas. It was essential that we offer him a chair, if we were to keep him. We were able to do so, and he stayed at Penn.

Q. Do new hires receive chairs?

A. In SAS, our primary recruitment strategy is to hire outstanding junior faculty and support them as they mature as scholars and teachers. The ideal situation is to have these chairs available for recognition when a faculty member has reached a level of preeminence in his or her field. Occasionally, we use chairs to hire senior faculty since, at the highest levels, faculty expect a chair and without one, recruitment is futile. Being able to offer an endowed chair during recruitment demonstrates our commitment to the scholar and his or her research, a fact that scholars consider carefully in deciding with whom to affiliate. A department with a number of endowed chairs is also a draw for junior scholars who aspire to work with the experts in their field.

Q. Specifically, what funding does a chair provide?

A. The research fund that is associated with a chair is used for many purposes. It can provide travel to research sites and funds for doctoral students who work on projects. It subsidizes the purchase of research materials, visits for research associates and consultants, and so on. The endowment also pays a portion of the designee’s salary, thus providing budget relief for the School.

Q. Can a chair really make a big difference?

A. Yes, let me give you an example. Last year, we recruited Larry Sherman, the Albert M. Greenfield Professor of Human Relations, to head the Fels Institute of Government, now that it is part of SAS. Dr. Sherman is one of the foremost criminologists in the country and is often called upon to testify before Congress and state legislatures on crime prevention policy. A recent study of major criminology and criminal justice publications ranked him as the most cited criminologist in the nation. We could not have recruited Larry without an endowed professorship.

Q. How much does it cost to endow a professorship?

A. A gift of $2 million will establish a professorship named by the donor. The real value, however, is in the lifelong partnership between the donors and faculty. Donors can support research in an area that’s meaningful to them and have their name associated with the scholarship of an esteemed faculty member. Chair donors are among the most honored friends of SAS because of their commitment to the core of our mission: building faculty excellence.

Q. How many chairs does SAS have?

A. SAS currently has 272 full professors and 57 chairs. I want to increase the number of chairs to 100. Relative to our peers, SAS has very few chairs, especially in the sciences.

Q. What departments need endowed professorships?

A. Our commitment to build strength in core departments is focused on English, history, biology, psychology, economics, and political science. Each of these departments will play a major role in defining the future excellence of SAS. However, with world renowned faculty across all departments of the School of Arts and Sciences, we have many needs in other departments as well and should be able to find a meaningful match between scholar and donor.

Q. Is there one area where a chair could make a really dramatic difference?

A. There is, and that is endowment given for use at the dean’s discretion. By not specifying a department, a donor offers the dean the flexibility to act quickly when a faculty member receives an offer from a peer institution or when a compelling target of opportunity outside the School suddenly appears.