Three months after announcing that he would step down as dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Loren Ghiglione is settled in a smaller office and surrounded by stuffed bookshelves.
“I finally have a chance to write some more pages of my book,” he said, typing rapidly and smiling.
Next fall, Ghiglione will be on leave from Northwestern to write a book about the future of news and the role of journalism in democracy. He will return to teaching in the fall of 2007 as the Richard Schwarzlose Professor of Media Ethics.
Ghiglione will join a group of almost 300 endowed professors at NU. An endowed position has an honorary title and is financially supported by a donor.
The number of endowed professorships at NU and other universities is on the rise.
“There are no national data that designate the exact numbers, but from reading various articles and reading literature, I’ve seen more and more named positions than unnamed ones,” said John Curtis, director of research for the American Association of University Professors.
THE NATIONWIDE RISE
Twelve positions have been endowed at NU in the past three years, bringing the university total to 282. Representatives from Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., also reported even larger increase in the number of endowed professorships. Cornell has added 90 positions in the past decade; Stanford has 93 more than it did five years ago.
James Elsass, associate vice president for the Office of Budget Planning, attributes the increase to the heightened difficulty of finding and keeping faculty. The prestige of endowed positions attracts talented professors, he said.
“There’s a small group of universities trying to get a small number of great professors,” Elsass said. “If you can give an endowed position, it’s a way to keep good faculty.”
The number of endowed professorships at Stanford University has risen for a similar reason, said Cecilia Evangelista, special assistant to Stanford’s vice president.
“Faculty endowments provide resources necessary to attract and retain top talent,” Evangelista said.
University campaigns and increased donor interest also account for the rise, said Sarah Pearson, vice president for NU’s development office.
“You nationally see the trend rising because of the numerous large university campaigns,” Pearson said. “Endowed positions are one of the primary needs. The reputation of a university is based on what students do and what the faculty does.”
To create an endowed position, individual donors or companies must make a $2 million contribution, Pearson said. Endowed positions are often named for them.
“Donors like to have their names on things,” Elsass said. “Buildings sometimes get torn down, but endowed chairs live forever.”
FOR THE HONOR, NOT THE SALARY
Endowed positions don’t always lead to larger salaries, bigger offices or more free time. For many, including Ghiglione, it’s about the honor of the title.
“It’s a nice recognition of a level of achievement,” Ghiglione said.
The funds for an endowed chair do not all go to the professor who fills the position. Although the exact percentage depends on the economy, about four percent of the money goes toward the professor’s salary each year, Elsass said. Larger endowments might allow the professor a small allowance for research.
“The allure isn’t financial,” Pearson said. “For a faculty member to sit in an endowed chair is a great recognition.”
The $750,000 raised for Ghiglione’s endowed position would give him about $50,000 in salary, which is “not enough for a full faculty salary,” he said. Fundraising for the chair is an ongoing effort.
The chair honors the late journalism professor Richard Schwarzlose, who died in June 2003. Ghiglione has said he hopes to bring the same energy to the classroom Schwarzlose did.
NU, Cornell and Stanford predict the number of endowed positions will continue to rise.
“There will always be donors,” Elsass said. “And as long as there are wealthy people out there to give money away, we’ll see growth.”
Reach Margaret Matray at [email protected].
