Recruiting and Retaining Exceptional Faculty

Professor George Olah, holder of the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Chair in Organic Chemistry and director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, won the 1994 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his pioneering research in superacids and hydrocarbon chemistry. Extraordinary faculty such as Professor Olah are drawn to USC for many reasons. In addition to our inquisitive and dedicated students and a collaborative atmosphere, USC has a reputation for giving individual faculty, departments and schools the latitude to introduce innovations into teaching and research. One of the most powerful tools for attracting and retaining preeminent scholars and first-rate teachers -- who in turn attract other high-caliber faculty and students -- is the endowed faculty chair. Chairholders such as Dr. Olah also generate external research support from public and private sources, further strengthening the university and reducing pressure on tuition and fees. Appointment to an endowed chair is the highest recognition a university can bestow upon a member of the faculty; in return, endowed chairs associate their respective donors with the academic work of the university in perpetuity.

SELECTED GIFT OPPORTUNITIES: An endowment to establish the dean's chair in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences $2.5 million An endowed visiting professorship in contemporary art in the School of Fine Arts $600,000 An endowed chair in transplantation biology $2 million A professorship in entrepreneurship $1 million An endowed chair in urban education policy $1.5 million