Partner with us to attract and retain exceptional faculty whose teaching and research will inspire today’s students and prepare them to be tomorrow’s leaders in both industry and academia.
The foundation for a top engineering program is a great faculty. Today’s Cockrell School faculty members, numbering well over 260, are internationally-recognized, committed teacher-scholars who create knowledge through research, transmit that knowledge through education, and distribute that knowledge through their entrepreneurial endeavors.
Investing in our faculty has a remarkable impact – by funding faculty endowments you not only enhance the Cockrell School’s faculty, you are also better-educating students who will then become the next generation of leaders. Academic leaders like ours are highly sought after by peer institutions and we cannot advance the School without a strategic focus on recruiting the finest faculty while simultaneously strengthening our current faculty. During the University’s centennial campaign in the 1980’s engineering alumni and friends invested heavily in the School’s faculty – the transformational results of which lead almost entirely to our rise in the U.S. News and World Report rankings over the last 20 years. Today, in order to maintain and to advance our position as a top engineering program, we must sustain our exceptional faculty who enliven and enrich the classroom and research environments. All endowments may be funded fully with a one-time gift or over a period of years.
Early career awards established with an endowment of $500,000 enable newly hired faculty to jumpstart their teaching career.
Endowed Professorship
Awarded to faculty who have distinguished themselves as academic leaders, Professorships provide the annual support necessary for these promising scholars to remain at the forefront of their field. Often used for program development to supplement budget allocations, professorships encourage faculty to expand their activities and those of their students in the areas of teaching and research. Endowed professorships may be funded with a minimum gift of $750,000.
Endowed Chair
Established to support eminent faculty and academic leaders, Endowed Chairs enable the Cockrell School to both attract and retain the most innovative scholars in the field. Chair holders are a catalyst for drawing exceptional students to the School, attracting outstanding junior and senior faculty, stimulating significant research, and leveraging funding from government and industrial sources. Awarded to superior faculty, endowed chairs require a minimum investment of $1 million and ensure faculty the ability to innovate in their fields.
Endowed Leadership Chair
These endowments provide our academic leaders with the resources necessary to sustain and enhance the caliber of programs and departments. Named in honor of the donor, this endowment is critical in addressing the recommendations of the Commission of 125 to secure unrestricted resources necessary for our academic leaders to act strategically and efficiently. Leadership Chairs are available to fund with a minimum gift of $2 million.
To learn more about establishing an endowment to support faculty, please call the Engineering Foundation Office at 512-471-3395.
Read letters from our faculty about the impact a single gift has made in their lives, and how they are living their gratitude by making a difference in the world.
