The Campaign for Willamette

Endowed Chairs

Dear Friends,

Endowed chairs are one way to measure the strength of a university. They measure the scholarship of the faculty and the financial commitment of alumni and friends. They are evidence of the capacity of campus leadership to meld the mission of the university with the vision of its benefactors. Endowed chairs tell us what we value.

There are 17 endowed chairs at Willamette: 10 in the College of Liberals Arts, four in the Atkinson Graduate School of Management and two in the College of Law, and one chair that rotates among the three schools. They are occupied by the University’s most distinguished and revered professors. While these chairs represent an array of disciplines at Willamette, they have one thing in common. An endowed chair is the ultimate recognition of faculty scholarship bestowed by this University.

How do endowed chairs influence teaching and learning at Willamette? The scholarship generated by endowed chairs, through publishing, collaborative research and programmatic enhancements is shared daily with students throughout our campus. Students benefit from the most current thinking and publishing, from the most recent debates and forums examining the issues of the day. Endowed chairs carry Willamette University students to the center of today’s scholarly discourse, discourse that is provocative, discourse that demands knowledge, energy and opinions.

The ways in which faculty and students benefit from endowed chairs are tangible and immediate. The benefit to donors is more subtle but permanent. An endowed chair, established in perpetuity and carrying the name of the donor, offers that individual a deeply personal and distinctive option for supporting Willamette University. The list of current endowed chairs at Willamette includes the names of some of the most prominent and philanthropic families in the Pacific Northwest.

To those donors who have established an endowed chair at the University, I wish to express my gratitude for your exceptional generosity and for your confidence in Willamette. To those individuals who contemplate such a commitment, I can promise you that your gift will be treasured and judiciously managed by the stewards of this University.

Academic excellence at Willamette is measured by exceptional teaching and by the level and quality of faculty/student interaction. Faculty members who hold an endowed chair serve as role models for junior faculty and guide and strengthen the academic future of the College of Liberal Arts, Law and the Atkinson Graduate School of Management. An endowed chair represents in the donor and in the recipient the very best that is Willamette University.

Warm regards,

Carol Long Dean, College of Liberal Arts

 

Willamette University Endowed Chairs

[chairs are listed in reverse chronological order by year established]

non nobis solum nati sumus

not unto ourselves alone are we born