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Giving

Faculty Support

Each day, the work of NC State’s faculty impacts the world around us — helping us understand implications of artificial intelligence, supply chain operations, best practices in food safety, new ways to help K-12 students learn, better methods for fighting wildfires and more.

professor Arion Kennedy talks to a student in her lab

Chairs and Professorships at NC State

Over the last decade, the number of endowed faculty positions at NC State has grown to more than 230 — a significant point of pride made possible by donors. However, we still lag behind our peer institutions.

Such positions are among the highest honors a faculty member can aspire to. Growing our distinguished professorships and other endowed faculty positions makes us more competitive when it comes to recruiting outstanding talent to NC State and retaining those who have launched their careers here. 

When fully endowed, professorships produce a revenue stream, providing flexible funds that allow faculty members to pursue ideas that might be difficult to fund otherwise, hire students into research positions, support their travel and fieldwork, and raise visibility of the university through conferences and public engagement. Your gift fuels discovery — and shapes our future.

Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund

Since 1985, the North Carolina General Assembly has offered a generous gift-matching program to donors who endow a distinguished professorship or chair through the Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund. This match has accelerated donor — and faculty — impact.
As of November 2023, under a new UNC System policy, the fund will provide matches only to new distinguished professorships established in STEM disciplines. 

Donors may still create professorships to support faculty members in non-STEM fields. These funds will not be entered into the queue for state matching funds, but they are critical to advancing our academic mission and educating students who are well-rounded in a variety of disciplines.

Pedestrians cross the Court of North Carolina with the 1911 Building in the background on a warm spring day

Opportunities for Your Support

  • Endowed Deanship: Elevate the dean position by providing resources to pursue priorities related to research, teaching and programmatic needs that may not be covered through other revenue sources.
  • Endowed Department Head: Strengthen academic reputation by providing consistent resources to department heads.
  • Endowed Distinguished Chair: Provide honor, recognition and resources to the most renowned and seasoned faculty members. 
  • Endowed Distinguished Professorship*: Help recruit and retain outstanding faculty members and support their continued leadership at NC State and throughout their fields of expertise. 
  • Endowed Professorship*: Support emerging and leading tenure-track and professional-track faculty, providing them with recognition and resources for their research and teaching efforts.
  • Endowed Faculty Award: Recognize excellence in research and teaching and provide a vehicle for honoring faculty members at different career stages.

*”Professor” is the title given to a faculty member who is a full professor, “ Scholar” is the title given to an associate professor and “ Fellow” is the title given to an assistant professor. Awarding endowed positions at the assistant or associate professor level is a powerful retention tool.

Stories of Faculty Impact

NC State is home to more than 2,500 outstanding faculty, each guided by an extraordinary purpose. Across disciplines, they inspire students to think creatively and critically, serve as mentors, fuel the evolution of their fields of study through graduate student support and undertake vital research that benefits our community, state and world. Read on to learn more about the incredible work our faculty undertake at NC State.

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Irwin Morris