Endowed Faculty Positions

Endowed Faculty Positions

The Endowed Positions Working Group was formed in fall 2022 in response to discussions with The Ohio State University Foundation Board about how to strengthen endowed faculty positions at Ohio State.

Endowed positions are one of the highest honors we can bestow upon our faculty. Given to faculty who have achieved great distinction, endowed positions universally acknowledge research and scholarship of the highest caliber and signify the broad impact of the individual’s work. Endowed positions also aid in the recruitment and retention of faculty who are at the top of their respective fields, enhancing their ability to secure future funding.

The Endowed Positions Working Group was charged with examining endowed faculty positions at Ohio State. To inform its work, the Working Group requested information on endowed positions from 15 peer institutions, interviewed unit heads from across the university, and gathered data from the Office of Advancement and several other sources.

The final report below includes detailed recommendations for the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA), deans, department chairs, faculty, and advancement officers.

Working Group on Endowed Positions report - March 2023

Working Group on Endowed Positions Report – March 2023

Examined data and identified patterns regarding the use or underuse of endowed positions at Ohio State, researched comparable data at peer institutions, considered the concerns identified in a previous report from the Ohio State Foundation Board group, and identified successful practices at Ohio State that might move the campus toward optimal approaches to endowed positions. 

View report