Overview of Professorships
There are various types of professorships, including those outlined in Chapter 4 of the Faculty Handbook:
- James B. Duke Professorships
- Bass Chairs
- Individually named chairs
- Interdisciplinary University Professorships
- University Distinguished Service Professorships
- Eponymous Professorships
More information on endowed professorships is available on the Endowment Administration website.
Distinguished Professorships
As the number and types of professorships have grown, the selection process has been revised so that not all professorships must be denoted as distinguished. In 2018, the selection rules for distinguished professorships were revised accordingly. A list of distinguished professors is available on the Provost's website.
Establishing Eponymous Professorships
Consistent with the Trustees 1983 policy (followed in 1998 and again in 2002 when the list of eponyms for the Fuqua School was forwarded to the Board of Trustees for approval), the fundamental guidelines for selection of potential eponyms are as follows:
- That, as stipulated in the 1981 Board of Trustees resolution, eponyms honor persons who have been deceased at least ten years.
- That there be no reasonable chance of ever establishing a funded chair in the same name.
- That the names be selected, in order of preference, from among:
- Former members of the respective school and Duke University faculties.
- Former Trustees and officers of the respective school and Duke University.
- Distinguished alumni of the respective school and Duke University. Dedicated benefactors of the University.
The Dean (or a representative who is especially knowledgeable about those distinguished or influential individuals who have had an impact on the respective school and its history) provides the Provost with a set of suggested names, together with comprehensive biographical information (year of birth, year of death, professional achievements and Duke contributions) for each of the proposed eponyms. It is especially helpful if the list of proposed eponyms is ordered in some rough priority ranking, with the ones considered most important to the school’s goals at the top of the list. The list of proposed names and the biographical information are required in order to initiate the process of establishing sufficient eponyms for the school to last for the next five years.
The University Archivist may be able to assist Deans and their staff in locating relevant biographical details and also to ensure that the biographical details and also to ensure that the biographical information is both correct and comparable to that submitted by other schools for eponyms.
After vetting the suggested names, the Provost forwards the list to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees for its consideration. Subsequently, the individual names approved by the Academic Affairs Committee are forwarded to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
More information on eponymous professorships is available here:
Processing and Approving Professorships for Duke University Faculty
dFac Users: View the documentation required to finalize each action.
regular rank faculty
screen-reader friendly version of approvals chart
Non regular rank faculty
