Oregon State University: Oregon State raises $13.8 million to create 15 new endowed faculty position funds

In just six months, donors to Oregon State University committed $13.8 million to establish 15 new endowed faculty position funds to advance research, teaching and engagement, university leaders recently announced.

The initiative, known as the Provost’s Faculty Match Program, was a joint effort between the Office of the Provost and the OSU Foundation.

“Endowed positions are one of the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member,” said Edward Feser, OSU provost and executive vice president. “This success, achieved so quickly, demonstrates our donor community’s deep understanding of the critical importance of supporting faculty and all they do to advance OSU’s mission.”

The new endowed positions are distributed across seven colleges within Oregon State: two new chairs and a faculty fellow in forestry; a chair (its first) and professorship in business; two professorships in agricultural sciences; a faculty scholar (its first) in education; and faculty scholar positions in engineering, science, veterinary medicine and one to be determined. These additions bring the number of endowed faculty position funds at Oregon State to 167, an increase of more than 40 since 2015.

Resources provided by the endowed funds can support expenses related to teaching and research and fund student research assistants.

“Endowed faculty position funds are a hallmark of all great universities because they are critically important to recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty,” said Shawn L. Scoville, OSU Foundation president and CEO. “These endowed position funds provide resources that advance OSU’s excellence in teaching, research and outreach.”

This initiative represents the third time over the last dozen years that the OSU Foundation has partnered with the Office of the Provost on a successful faculty match program.