FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Using part of the historic $300 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, the University of Arkansas will help fund 50 new endowed faculty positions for academic colleges and departments.

In most cases, colleges, schools and academic departments must raise one half of the funds necessary to endow the position. This is expected to be attractive to prospective donors who wish to leverage their own gifts and create named endowments in areas of interest. Searches are under way to recruit faculty for these positions.

"These new endowed positions and the outstanding faculty they attract will ensure that undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Arkansas will be competitive with other top programs across the nation," said UA Chancellor John A. White. "But in addition to recruiting outstanding faculty, these positions will help attract benefactors who have an interest in funding endowed positions in specific areas. We’ve been successful with leveraged gifts and have been able to endow significant faculty chairs through this technique.

"The research and scholarly activities supported by these new endowed positions will significantly strengthen the University of Arkansas’ contribution to the knowledge- and technology-based economy that Arkansas so urgently needs," he added.

Bob Smith, UA provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs (to whom all of the academic deans report) noted, "The deans are thrilled with the opportunities presented by the potential endowed positions. Indeed, all of the deans — working with their development staff members — are already actively pursuing matching funds necessary to secure the marvelous commitments made possible through the Walton gift."

The selections were made by a committee consisting of Chancellor White; Bob Smith, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs; Collis Geren, vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate School; G. David Gearhart, vice chancellor for university advancement; and Johnetta Cross Brazzell, vice chancellor for student affairs.

The positions will be held in college departments and in some cases, will be cross-disciplinary with the faculty member holding appointment in two colleges or two departments.

The following positions will be created:

• Endowed Graduate Research Faculty Chairs (7) — Typically funded with a principal of $3 million, these will be used to recruit new faculty who have been elected to the National Academies of Science or Engineering or equivalent organizations worldwide. These faculty members will focus exclusively on developing or enhancing research programs in their areas of expertise and will work with graduate students and honors college undergraduates in these endeavors. These seven new endowed graduate faculty chairs may be endowed for a gift of $1.5 million from a benefactor and a $1.5 million match from Walton funds.
• Endowed Chairs (28) — Typically funded with a principal of $1.5 million, these will be used to recruit new scholar-teachers who will be actively involved with both the Honors College and the Graduate School as well as their "home" school or college appropriate to their discipline. These 28 new endowed chairs may be endowed for a gift of $750,000 from a benefactor and a $750,000 match from Walton funds.
• Endowed Distinguished Professorships (15) — Typically funded with a principal of $500,000, these, too, will be used to recruit distinguished professors who will also be actively involved with both the Honors College and the Graduate School as well as their "home" school or college appropriate to their discipline. These 15 new endowed distinguished professorships may be endowed for a gift of $250,000 from a benefactor and a $250,000 match from Walton funds.

Endowed positions are considered key to realizing the University of Arkansas’ goals, particularly in the ability to recruit and retain nationally competitive students and faculty and provide the programs that enable them to thrive. A general description of what endowments provide follows.

Income from an endowed chair can supplement the holder’s salary and provide funds for graduate assistants’ salaries, administrative assistance, course development, equipment, scholarly research and travel. Funds used for research can also contribute to educational support and research opportunities for promising graduate students.

An endowed professorship provides the resources to reward renowned professors for past academic achievement and enables them to pursue research or innovative teaching methods. An endowed professorship may enable a scholar to spend more time in direct contact with graduate and undergraduate students. Income from such endowments can supplement a distinguished faculty member’s salary or provide funds for research and teaching expenses.

G. David Gearhart said "The $300 Million Challenge, the campaign-within-a-campaign to raise $300 million for academic purposes to match the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation’s $300 million gift has surpassed the $100 million-mark. Challenge funds must be raised between Jan. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2005, the end of the Campaign. The Challenge total stood at $101.4 million as of April 30, 2003.

"Reaching and surpassing the $100 million-mark in the last quarter of the fiscal year is a tremendous boost to our Challenge progress both psychologically and financially," Gearhart said. "This signals that in spite of downturns in the economy, our alumni and friends are stepping up to support the University of Arkansas and particularly to meet the Walton family’s $300 million challenge."

The Campaign goal is to raise $900 million, of which $714.8 million has been raised as of April 30, 2003. Of that amount, the total designated for faculty is $173.6 million.

The allocations of the endowed faculty positions may be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet here.