Eminent Scholars Program

Eminent Scholars Program

About the Program

The University of Arizona needs exceptional faculty to accomplish our bold goals for research and education. The Eminent Scholars Program (ESP), managed by the Office of the Provost and the University of Arizona Foundation, is a state-funded program designed to provide funding to match philanthropic investment for the recruitment/retention of eminent scholars (faculty) at Arizona universities. At the University of Arizona, the program provides a 1:1 match for the payout of newly established endowed faculty positions for five years and an additional one-time award for graduate students working under/with the holder of said endowed chair/position.

Qualifying Gifts and Limits

  • Minimum Gift Level: New gifts to establish an endowed chair ($2M) through a gift commitment or a pledge (planned gifts are not eligible) spanning no more than five years. Please note that multi-donor chair commitments will be eligible for the match at such time as the entire pledge commitment(s) have been fulfilled.
  • Funding Limits: The ESP has limited funding; $2M is the maximum it will match per endowed faculty position.

Eminent Scholars Program Application Process

Below is the process. For more information, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

STEP 1

A Gift Officer submits a written request by emailing Clint McCall at clint.mccall@uafoundation.org. The requests must contain the following information:

  • Purpose of the new endowment.
  • Recruitment or retention.
  • Timeline for hiring/retention package.
  • A planned timeline for solicitation and amount.
STEP 2 Receive approval from the University of Arizona Foundation (UAF) and the Office of the Provost. The approval will come via email from Clint McCall.
STEP 3

Once the gift agreement has been fully executed, complete the ESP Memorandum template, and work with the unit business officer to complete the followings:

  • Foundation Financial Services will setup a new endowment project.
  • Create a new UA account number for the graduate student awards for the Eminent Scholar funding with naming convention as follows: Eminent Scholar-FYXX Unit Name Grd Stdt.
  • Create a new UA account number for the Eminent Scholar Chair with naming convention as follows: Eminent Scholar-FYXX Chair Name.
  • Complete the checklist and return it to UAF Financial Services, which will be provided by the UAF Financial Services and the Office of the Provost.
  • The Dean/Business Officer will also be required to submit a spending plan for the ESP resources to the Office of the Provost - Marilyn Taylor at taylorm@arizona.edu for review as part of the process.
STEP 4 Once UAF has approved and routed the completed gift agreement, UAF will also generate a letter from the Provost and UAF President to the donor and acknowledges the commitment from the ESP.

Resources

Contact

Clint McCall

Vice President, Principal Giving, the University of Arizona Foundation

clint.mccall@uafoundation.org

Marilyn Taylor

Associate Vice President, Finance & Administration

taylorm@arizona.edu