OU's Faculty Endowments Increase 300 Percent
NORMAN – A historic 300 percent increase in the number of
faculty endowments has been achieved at the University of Oklahoma
in less than 12 years with the recent addition of seven new endowed
faculty positions. These new endowed positions put OU over the 400
mark in endowed positions for the first time. From the 101 endowed
positions in place in 1994, the number has climbed to 403.
“Nothing is more important to academic excellence than strengthening faculty support,” said OU President David Boren. “Because of the generosity of our donors and the continued commitment of the Oklahoma Legislature, we can offer prestigious chairs or professorships to 403 faculty members on our three campuses.”
“This means that we can recruit and retain some of the best teachers and researchers in the country, which in turn, assists in attracting increasingly talented students, initiating exciting new programs in areas like International Studies, and leading the Big XII in research growth,” he said.
OU’s new total for faculty endowments includes 341 endowed faculty chairs and professorships and 62 endowed Presidential Professorships. OU leads all public colleges and universities in the state in endowed faculty positions. The public university closest in the number to OU has 126 endowed positions.
The seven new positions established at the end of 2005 were created in the areas of dance, pediatric research, internal medicine, pharmacy and Alzheimer’s research, as well as two for the University Libraries, one designated for the Dean of Libraries and one for the Energy Center librarian.
“The new positions illustrate the broad range of ways faculty endowments strengthen the University,” Boren said. “They will allow us to bring in visiting artists, to enhance medical research on our Health Sciences Center and OU-Tulsa campuses, and to ensure excellent leadership for the University Libraries.”
Boren said that a key to OU’s success is the Oklahoma Legislature’s “vision and commitment” as one of the few states in the nation that offer state matching funds through the State Regents for Higher Education to the private endowed chairs and professorships donations.
A recent Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling has cleared the way for the issuance of $50 million in revenue bonds to provide funds for many endowed positions that had been waiting for the state match. OU stands to receive a significant amount of the matching funds.
Boren noted that the faculty endowments have played an important role in the phenomenal growth of OU’s endowment over the past 11 years. In 1994, faculty endowments were at $136 million. Today, the faculty endowments have reached
$428 million.
Overall, OU’s endowment, which is expected to reach $850 million when the new state matching funds are counted, is approaching the $1 billion mark, which will place OU in an elite class with only 14 public universities with billion-dollar endowments.
“We deeply appreciate the exceptional generosity of our alumni and friends who have expressed their belief in OU’s future with gifts to create these permanent faculty endowments,” Boren said. “And, we are very grateful to the Oklahoma Legislature and the State Regents for their continued commitment to the state program that matches private gifts to endowed chairs and professorships.”
For more information, please contact The OU Public Affairs at (405) 325-1701.
“Nothing is more important to academic excellence than strengthening faculty support,” said OU President David Boren. “Because of the generosity of our donors and the continued commitment of the Oklahoma Legislature, we can offer prestigious chairs or professorships to 403 faculty members on our three campuses.”
“This means that we can recruit and retain some of the best teachers and researchers in the country, which in turn, assists in attracting increasingly talented students, initiating exciting new programs in areas like International Studies, and leading the Big XII in research growth,” he said.
OU’s new total for faculty endowments includes 341 endowed faculty chairs and professorships and 62 endowed Presidential Professorships. OU leads all public colleges and universities in the state in endowed faculty positions. The public university closest in the number to OU has 126 endowed positions.
The seven new positions established at the end of 2005 were created in the areas of dance, pediatric research, internal medicine, pharmacy and Alzheimer’s research, as well as two for the University Libraries, one designated for the Dean of Libraries and one for the Energy Center librarian.
“The new positions illustrate the broad range of ways faculty endowments strengthen the University,” Boren said. “They will allow us to bring in visiting artists, to enhance medical research on our Health Sciences Center and OU-Tulsa campuses, and to ensure excellent leadership for the University Libraries.”
Boren said that a key to OU’s success is the Oklahoma Legislature’s “vision and commitment” as one of the few states in the nation that offer state matching funds through the State Regents for Higher Education to the private endowed chairs and professorships donations.
A recent Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling has cleared the way for the issuance of $50 million in revenue bonds to provide funds for many endowed positions that had been waiting for the state match. OU stands to receive a significant amount of the matching funds.
Boren noted that the faculty endowments have played an important role in the phenomenal growth of OU’s endowment over the past 11 years. In 1994, faculty endowments were at $136 million. Today, the faculty endowments have reached
$428 million.
Overall, OU’s endowment, which is expected to reach $850 million when the new state matching funds are counted, is approaching the $1 billion mark, which will place OU in an elite class with only 14 public universities with billion-dollar endowments.
“We deeply appreciate the exceptional generosity of our alumni and friends who have expressed their belief in OU’s future with gifts to create these permanent faculty endowments,” Boren said. “And, we are very grateful to the Oklahoma Legislature and the State Regents for their continued commitment to the state program that matches private gifts to endowed chairs and professorships.”
For more information, please contact The OU Public Affairs at (405) 325-1701.
