Board of Governors Professorship

July 8, 2021

Board of Governors Professorships are awarded to individuals whose aggregate academic accomplishments are recognized nationally and globally as being exceptionally outstanding and at a level surpassing the extremely high standards of distinction expected of faculty members who have earned Distinguished Professor (Professor II) designations at the University. By virtue of their exceptionality, these professorships exemplify over the span of a year or multiple years the single or handful of the most celebrated and decorated academic scholars at Rutgers. Nominations should be linked to a series of transformative accomplishments and honors that transcend singular professional or academic disciplinary honors.

Unlike endowed chairs, Board of Governors Professorships are not permanent positions. Instead, they are linked to a specific distinguished individual member of the faculty. Upon the faculty member’s retirement or departure, the specific Board of Governors Professorship ceases to exist.

The process for approval for Board of Governors Professorships is a multi-step process. The Dean, after consultation with the Department Chair or Unit Director, will discuss the feasibility of the specific candidacy with their Provost and Chancellor. If there is uniform agreement that consideration of a Board of Governors Professorship is strongly justified, the Dean will forward a LOI to the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (Attn: Dr. Angela Mullis, evpaa@rutgers.edu) with the candidate’s C.V., a letter of support from the Department Chair, and a memo from the Chancellor/Provost/Dean confirming their support. The LOI is only the first step, which may not lead to further advancement to a full nomination unless the case has potential to rise up to being exceptionally competitive institution-wide given the stringent criteria and the exceedingly limited conferment of this title.

The EVPAA will review the LOI and advance only that candidacy which meets the extremely high standards for the professorship, and, if it does, will decide when the candidacy should proceed to the next stage of nomination. The Dean will then be notified of the plans for nomination and asked to discuss with the appropriate Department Chair a list of external referees to comment on the scholarly stature of the official nominee. The Dean will submit the list of referees to the Office of the EVPAA (Attn: Dr. Angela Mullis, evpaa@rutgers.edu).

The Office of the EVPAA will draft the referee solicitation letter on behalf of the nominee. A minimum of seven letters are required, and they should be objective in their evaluation of the nominee’s scholarly contributions and eminence and speak to the exceptional nature of the honor being considered. If the external letters enthusiastically champion the nomination, the EVPAA office submits the package to a BOG Professorship Peer Review Committee. If the letters do not sufficiently and unanimously support candidacy and elaborate on the depth and breadth of the stature, accomplishments, and impacts of the faculty, the EVPAA will not advance the package further to the committee. Should the packet be deemed competitive by the committee at that level, the EVPAA submits a written recommendation to the President, who shall evaluate the credentials and, if the President concurs, recommend to the Committee for Academic and Student Affairs, Board of Governors.

The primary benefits of the Professorship are the honor that is associated with this title, considered to be among the highest recognition given to faculty at Rutgers. There is no monetary award associated directly with the title per se, however this recognition is a significant sign of the prestige and status that the institution and the academic schools are conferring on the candidate.

The deadline for initial LOI nominations will typically be September 15 of each year. Candidates that receive a positive review at all levels and advance will be presented to the Board of Governors for their approval at the June Board meeting for each year.

Questions: Email evpaa@rutgers.edu