Recently there's been much talk about the "brain drain" at the UW. Faculty, lured by substantially higher salaries and related perks at other institutions, have been leaving the UW in droves. "It's the worst it's ever been, and I've been here for 24 years," Vice Provost Steven Olswang recently told the UW's Columns magazine.

That's all true. But this dark cloud does have its silver lining: since July 1998, A&S donors have responded to the crisis by establishing seven new endowed professorships in the College. Endowed professorships require a minimum contribution of $250,000.

	Larry Dalton, UW Professor of Chemistry, established a professorship with his wife soon after arriving at the University. It is one of seven professorships established since July 1998.

"Professorships can play a significant role in recruitment and retention of top professors," says David Hodge, dean of the College. "They allow us to offer competitive salaries, and the professorship title itself offers great distinction to its holder."

Consider Thomas Daniel, professor of zoology, who has received both a MacArthur Fellowship and the UW's Distinguished Teaching Award. His combination of exceptional research and teaching skills makes him an understandable target for raids by other universities, but a Richard and Joan Komen University Professorship has convinced Daniel to stay put. Other top scholars, including Applied Mathematics Professor James Murray and International Studies Professor T.J. Pempel, joined the faculty thanks to professorships.

Those are the success stories--the brain gain that professorships make possible. Unfortunately, the College still has relatively few professorships to offer: at present, there are 13 for a faculty of 900. But the recent surge in giving has been tremendously encouraging.

"Last July, the College's Dean and Divisional Deans established professorships as the top development priority," says David Wu, A&S assistant dean for development. "We set a goal of doubling the number of professorships in the College, and we're already halfway to that goal. The response to our call for support has been nothing short of phenomenal." Examples of recently established professorships:

• The Jackson Foundation, a long-time supporter of the Jackson School of International Studies, has established the Henry M. Jackson Professorship in International Studies.
  
• Earl Carlson, A&S alumnus and professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, is establishing the Earl Carlson Endowed Professorship. The professorship will promote research on the effects of privilege on individuals in our society.
• Ruth Waters, a pianist herself, has funded the Ruth Sutton Waters Endowed Professorship in the School of Music.
• An anonymous donor has established a College-wide International Studies Professorship.
• Ruddick Lawrence, A&S alumnus and journalist, has created the Ruddick C. Lawrence Professorship--his second major gift to the School of Communications in the past three years.
• Jane Castor's Castor Professorship in Economics is the second professorship she has established in the Department of Economics. The first was created with late husband Cecil in 1988.
• Larry Dalton, UW professor of chemistry, and his wife, Dr. Nicole Boand, have established the Chemistry Endowed Professorship.

The Dalton/Boand gift, made less than a year after Dalton joined the UW faculty, might seem puzzling--until one learns of its genesis. Dalton, a chemistry professor and renowned researcher for more than 25 years, studied under Professor Alvin Kwiram as a graduate student at Harvard University. Kwiram later joined the UW faculty and is now Vice Provost for Research. Dalton saw the professorship as a way to honor his mentor while supporting the Department of Chemistry.

"Each donor has unique reasons for making a gift," says Hodge, "and sometimes the reasons are as inspiring as the gift itself. We're just thrilled that these generous friends of Arts and Sciences have chosen to support the College in this way."

For more information about gifts to the College, contact A&S Development at (206) 616-7120.

[Winter 1999 - Table of Contents]