Chairs and Professorships in L&S

Chairs and Professorships are a way to acknowledge the accomplishments of outstanding faculty by providing recognition and support to advance their research and academic pursuits. These awards offer a way to honor a faculty member's contribution to the University and are made possible by the generosity of donors to the University of Wisconsin Foundation and UW System Trust Funds.

In addition to carrying the title, these awards often come with research funds and salary support. Some awards can be for a fixed period while other titles can be renewable.

Awarding Process

All awards, even at the department level, must be approved by the Dean. When a department wishes to nominate a faculty member for an award within their unit, nomination materials must be submitted for approval.

Some awards allow for the the same faculty member to hold the award for multiple terms. In those instances, the award holder must be nominated for renewal at the end of each term. 

For deadlines on other campus awards, see Professorships and Awards in L&S: Campus Awards.

Bascom Professorships are administered jointly with the Provost Office. We work together to issue those awards. 

Award Details

While most chairs and professorships follow a common set of administrative guidelines, some awards may have unique requirements or processes due to the specific conditions outlined in their Memo of Agreement (MOA) or other influencing factors. Please reach out to Jana Valeo for assistance in creating the award terms.

• All nominations and award terms must be be consistent with donor intent as documented in the fund's MOA of the endowment gift. 
  • Finding the MOA
    • UW Foundation: the Fund Description on the UW Foundation's website 
    • UW Trust Funds: in the terms and conditions in WISER.
  • The salary components and the research amounts are dependent on the endowment that supports the award.
  • Typically, 50% of the endowment supports salary and fringe.
• The award period is often 5 years but the duration may be mandated by terms in the MOA. The award period listed in the MOA must be followed.

Timing

• The nomination and awarding process is completed the spring prior to the award start date.
• Award terms begin July 1 to align with the fiscal year. Any deviation must be approved prior to the award being made.
• If an award is part of a recruitment or retention and needs to be made outside of the award cycle, work with Jana Valeo. 

Nomination materials

The following materials should be emailed to Jana Valeo and the Academic Associate Dean for the unit:

• A brief memo addressing the following
  • How and why the nominee was selected for the chair or professorship
  • How the award aligns with the conditions listed in the Memo of Agreement (MOA), if applicable
  • For renewals, address support for the continuation and highlight accomplishments made since the last nomination.
  • Address the terms of award including
    • start and end date
    • 101 salary offset amount
    • amount allocated toward research funds
• Current CV

Award Letters

Once the nomination is approved by the Dean, the final award letter will be issued from the Dean's Office. Departments should not issue award letters.

L&S Contacts

Contact Jana Valeo with any questions. Nomination materials are emailed to Jana Valeo and the Academic Associate Dean for the unit.