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An endowed chair or professorship has the single most direct impact on the operating budget of the School of Music. Not only does it bring additional
private sector dollars into the budget—it does so in perpetuity. The University Faculty Endowment Matching Program—which is a commitment from
the campus to double the income of an endowed chair or professorship for its duration—makes an endowed chair or professorship even more
significant.
In the field of Music, endowed faculty positions for artists and scholars have assumed increasing importance. It is not uncommon in the major
orchestras as well as in the academic field to see increasing numbers of endowed chairs. This phenomenon gives an additional importance to an appointment
that has not been a factor in the past. The best candidates for positions in the School of Music will understandably be offered the highest salaries that
an academic institution can justify, but many prospective faculty will also look at such signs of prestige as an endowed faculty position provides. With
the decline in state appropriations, it is only through private sector help that we will be able to recruit the kind of faculty that are capable of
leadership roles in the School.
An endowed chair or professorship will allow the School to search for artists and scholars who have distinguished themselves as both performers and
pedagogues. The monies provided by chairs allow us to compete in the marketplace of performance as well as in that of academia, giving us the opportunity
to actively recruit for faculty of the highest renown.
Endowed funds are permanently invested to produce annual income. Investment returns that exceed the amount needed for distribution are invested to add
to the growth of the fund. Endowments therefore provide stable, dependable sources of financial support, protected from the uncertainties of state funding,
tuition, or other factors. Generally, it takes a minimum of $1 million to establish a chair, and $500,000 to establish a professorship.
For further information, please contact the Office of Development at 812-855-4737.
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