What Endowment Provides

Permanence and Visibility
Distinguished Professorships and Endowed Chairs create a legacy. Because they may be named for an honoree of the donor's choosing, they create a lasting, high-visibility link between the donor for whom the endowment is named and the ongoing achievements of the program.

Honor and Prestige
Because these endowments support faculty who are considered leaders in their fields, they create an environment of high quality and scientific vision. In addition, there is great prestige shared by the holder, the donor and the University.

Emotional Rewards
Endowments allow the donor to remain close to the program and share in its milestones. Because of their permanence and honorary nature, they often create significant emotional rewards through successive generations of a family or an organization.

Benefits to the University

Recruiting Power
Endowed faculty positions allow the University to attract and retain the most talented and sought-after medical scientists and teachers. They enable UCSF to make a substantial financial commitment to the individual's area of intellectual pursuit, and set up the appropriate environment in which outstanding work can proceed.

Academic Excellence and Leadership
As strength follows strength, so it goes with first-rate faculty: their presence attracts the brightest graduate students, the most accomplished colleagues and the public and private support that creates a stable, intellectually rigorous environment. Innovative leadership is the first and single most important component in the creation of an outstanding medical enterprise.

Financial Advantages
Endowed faculty positions allow for long-range planning, stability and financial integrity. They free the University to make commitments to the most promising avenues of research or clinical application. They provide seed funding for exciting new programs to be launched. They shape the institution's intellectual character and ensure that academic vision is not sacrificed to financial constraint.

Benefits to the Holder

Predictable, Ongoing Support
Faculty researchers can spend up to thirty percent of their time applying for grants to sustain their work, a demanding but necessary activity if they are to continue their investigations. Distinguished Professorships and Endowed Chairs provide a stable, ongoing source of support that allows the holder to concentrate on the research, clinical or teaching activities for which he or she is renowned. For researchers, they provide independence from the fluctuations of government funding cycles and the growing conservatism of granting agencies. For clinicians and teachers, they free the holder to pursue excellence, relieving the pressure to generate other sources of support.

Honor and Recognition
Distinguished Professorships are UCSF's highest faculty honor. Because of their honorary nature, endowed faculty positions represent an important milestone in the career of the holder. Both Distinguished Professorships and Endowed Chairs convey status and recognize the accomplishments of the faculty member holding the position.