Professorships

Endowed professorships are the highest honor the university can bestow upon current faculty who have made extraordinary contributions to research and teaching. They also enable us to offer competitive compensation packages in recruiting scholars who are in high demand around the country and the world.

Donors may establish professorships in their own names or in the names of others whom they wish to honor, and the chairs will exist in perpetuity. Income from the endowed gift pays the faculty member's salary and associated costs. In many cases, the income also defrays expenses related to the faculty member's work, such as library, staff support, travel, and other research-related expenses.

Several kinds of professorships will directly shape the Arts Initiative. Some will be based in traditional academic departments; some will be deployed as needed to give the incumbent the ability to pursue teaching and research in more than one department. This plan will allow flexibility in placing faculty strategically to fill gaps, for example in Islamic art, or to concentrate faculty in key areas where promising work is being done, such as ethnomusicology.

Directorships

Strategic programs in the arts require special leadership. Stanford seeks endowed directorships for the faculty who lead the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, the Film and Media Studies Program, and the Stanford Lively Arts performance series.

Centers and Institutes

The Arts Initiative includes support for curatorships at the Cantor Arts Center and lectureships at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. The scholars and practitioners who fill these roles are important members of Stanford's creative community.

Visiting Artists and Scholars

Stanford's arts community is greatly enriched by visiting artists and scholars. Donors may support a variety of visitor programs, including artist residencies through Stanford's Institute for Diversity in the Arts and residencies for ensembles and theater companies.

Graduate Fellowships

The university's mission of excellence in teaching, learning, and research is fully embodied in its graduate students. The primary criteria for admission are superior academic achievement and a potential to contribute to the academic and professional communities and to society as a whole. The competition is intense, and only the top candidates in each school and department are admitted. Once admitted, students are offered financial support that usually comprises a combination of fellowships, loans, and teaching or research assistantships. Endowed fellowships are key to our ability to offer the support needed to continue attracting the most talented graduate students.

For more information, please contact:

Barbara Frerichs
Director of Development
The Arts Initiative
650.723.9354 (T)
E-mail: barbara.frerichs@stanford.edu