(Doc. T00-080)
(as of May 13, 2025)

General

Named professorships or chairs should be used to attract and retain distinguished individuals of outstanding caliber. Each named professorship will be created by the Board of Trustees upon the recommendation of the President. Individuals will be appointed to named professorships by the President with the approval of the Board on the basis of the candidate's outstanding academic distinction as a scholar or professional in his or her field. Named professorships may be awarded with tenure, subject to the appropriate review procedures and in accordance with all existing personnel policies and procedures of the University.

Endowed Chairs or Professorships

Endowed chairs or professorships may be created by the University upon receipt of an endowment from a donor or donors. Endowed chairs or professorships typically carry the name of the donor or an individual or group whom the donor wishes to memorialize. The endowment will support the salary or part of the salary, or activities directly related to the chair or professorship. These guidelines apply to endowments received by either the University of Massachusetts or the University of Massachusetts Foundation for endowed chairs or professorships. Additionally, these guidelines apply to endowed fellowships.

Honorific Chairs or Professorships

Honorific chairs or professorships are established by the University without the creation of new funds to support the incumbent's salary. Honorific professorships are of two kinds. One is the lifetime chair, designed to recognize individual distinction for the academic lifetime of that person. The designation changes to "emeritus" upon retirement and expires at the person's death. A second kind is designed to improve the caliber of a whole college or campus and is designated by Trustee action as available to that college or campus; upon retirement of the incumbent the chair becomes available for a subsequent designee. At the time of establishment, it should be clear whether the honorific professorship is a lifetime designation for an individual or a permanent chair for a department, college, or campus.

Honorific professorships may include the following categories:

  1. University Professorships – Funded by the President's Office, carrying University-wide responsibilities to be assigned by the President.
  2. Distinguished Professorships – Associated with a given campus, awarded to honor an incoming or current faculty member.
  3. Named Professorships – Associated with a given campus, which may in turn be assigned to a college or department of that campus.
  4. Named Visiting Professorships – Associated with a given campus, to attract outstanding visiting faculty members or scholars.
  5. Commonwealth Professor – Associated with a given campus in consultation with the President, to honor an incoming or current faculty member for academic and professional achievement contributing to the enhancement of an academic area.