Endowed Chairs - $57 million

Faculty excellence is of great importance to the University of St. Thomas.

The educational mission of St. Thomas demands that faculty members offer students first-rate education in their fields of study, infuse them with a spirit of service to society, and be examples of the life of scholarly inquiry and engagement. It takes special individuals – master teachers – to enhance the St. Thomas educational environment, and the task of recruiting and retaining them can be daunting. 

Recruiting the finest leaders and teachers

Endowed chairs enable St. Thomas to hire established scholars with national and international reputations. (Throughout higher education, more than 80 percent of faculty members hired without endowed chairs are just beginning their careers.) As the university faces a significant wave of faculty retirements, establishing more endowed chairs will allow St. Thomas to bring in faculty members who are master teachers, outstanding scholars and experienced program strategists to serve as mentors to new faculty members who are beginning their careers.  

High standards

Endowed chairholders generally serve as leaders among faculty members within their departments. Endowed chairs are occupied by those faculty members who tend to be the most visible, both within and outside of the university.

• They have demonstrated excellence in teaching and in relating to students.
• They have established research records that include involvement of undergraduate and graduate students in their research programs. 
• They have demonstrated the ability to unite faith and reason in their work and have a thorough appreciation of St. Thomas’ Catholic identity and mission.

St. Thomas has 17 fully or partially funded chairs but needs many more. The goal is to endow 19 more chairs during the Opening Doors campaign and, eventually, five percent of all faculty positions outside of the School of Law and the Opus College of Business.