There is a highly selective and rigorous vetting process for nominations to each HMS endowed professorship. Nominations are proposed based on the high caliber and impact of a candidate’s scholarly accomplishments in alignment with the terms. This process has its inception, of course, in the purpose set out by the donor in establishing the professorship, for example, expressing the hope that the professorship would advance a field of medicine and its therapeutic frontiers. The nominations process includes letters from hospital leaders or department chairs describing how the candidate rises above his or her peers toward fulfillment of the goals of the professorship.
After review by the HMS Office for Faculty Affairs and Office for Clinical and Academic Affairs, the nominating materials are carefully considered by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, who advances them to the University Provost, where the process culminates in an appointment decision. Of course, each appointment starts with an outstanding candidate, and even before that, this candidate has been mentored and supported by an outstanding department chair.
Occasionally, an immediate past incumbent whose ongoing work exemplifies academic excellence in continuing research and teaching contributions to the HMS community, may also be nominated for and subsequently honored with an appointment as an endowed distinguished professor. Nominations for this honor may also be proposed by academic leadership in the corresponding affiliate institutions and departments in alignment with the terms.
HMS is grateful for the strong collaboration with academic leadership in the nominations process and for the outsized success of their efforts in this selections process, which has yielded an extraordinary cadre of endowed professors.
“Information and templates for the nominations process can be found at the following links:
- Faculty Handbook (Section 12 on Endowed Professorships)
- Forms related to Endowed Professorship nominations
References:
Harvard University History of Named Chairs. Sketches of Donors and Donations. Professorships of the Faculties of Medicine and Public Health. 1791-1992. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2005.
Harvard University History of Named Chairs. Sketches of Donors and Donations. 1991 – 2004. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2003.