Endowed Professorships

Faculty in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences are inspiring teachers, motivated mentors, and leading scholars and researchers. Recruiting and training renowned faculty is essential to maintaining Duke's excellence. Faculty quality is at the core of a university's academic reputation, but professors who shine in both the classroom and in their scholarly work are in tremendous demand worldwide, creating a competitive environment for prestigious universities that makes faculty recruitment and retention a challenging, high-stakes endeavor.

By supporting outstanding faculty through endowed professorships, alumni and friends can help ensure that our professors are true leaders in their fields and that our students receive a relevant and world-class liberal arts education. Endowed chairs have been key to hiring and retaining such stellar faculty and will be critical to the success of our college. Donors who support endowed faculty positions not only honor remarkable academic leaders, but also support important scholarly work and make a lasting investment in Duke's future. A permanent funding source ensures that for generations to come, our students will have opportunities to connect with great thinkers and mentors.

  • Your gift of $3.5 million can endow a distinguished faculty chair, helping the university recruit and retain outstanding faculty to enrich Duke's academic programs and provide mentors for our students.
  • Your gift of $2 million can create an endowed assistant/associate professorship fund to help us hire rising stars or an endowed professorship of the practice for faculty who bring distinguished records of experience outside the academy into the classroom.
  • Your gift of $1.5 million can endow a visiting professorship to support expert practitioners and visiting scholars who bring new experiences to the Duke community, enhancing the intellectual atmosphere of campus and the education of our students.