Endowed Chairs and Professorships

Endowed chairs and professorships are one the highest academic awards that the University can bestow on a faculty member, with some named entities being as old as the University itself. Thus, it is both an honor to the named holder of the appointment and also an enduring tribute to the donor who helped establish it.

Current chairholders

A list of current endowed chairholders is maintained on the Provost’s website.

As Named Entities, endowed chairs and professorships are governed by the Policy Relating to the Naming of University Assets and the Policy on the Approval of Contracts and Designation of Signing. For questions related to the establishment or dis-establishment of an endowed chair, please contact the academic.personnel [at] mcgill.ca (Academic Personnel Office).

Procedure for Selection, Appointment and Reappointment

The appointment of an endowed chair or professorship may proceed once the chair or professorship has been established. The following steps also apply to direct-funded (limited-term) chairs and professorship.

1. The Dean monitors the endowed chairs under the Faculty’s purview for vacant chairs and chairs coming up for renewals. The Dean strikes a committee to initiate the selection or renewal process as necessary.
2. A Faculty committee charged with the selection carries out its search and forwards a report in support of its recommendation to the Dean of the Faculty.
3. The Dean submits the appointment or reappointment dossier to the academic.personnel [at] mcgill.ca (Academic Personnel Office).

   Required document	Description
   Dean's memo	If applicable, the name of the previous incumbent, and the date and reason for the departure A brief rationale for the appointment or reappointment of the proposed candidate The start date and length of the appointment or reappointment (typically five years for emerging/early-career scholars and seven years for senior/established scholars, aligned to CRC and internal award terms) Financial information pertinent to the appointment including but not limited to: Salary Stipend Research Fund Details of any other salary sources held by the proposed incumbent including funding start/end date. These may include but are not limited to: Canada Research Chair James McGill Professorship Distinguished James McGill Professorship William Dawson Professorship External Salary Award (i.e. FRQS)
   Selection or Review Committee Report	Appointments require a selection committee report and reappointments require a review committee report outlining the criteria used to assess the candidate.
   Curriculum Vitae	The candidate’s current CV
   Chairholder Progress Report (for a reappointment dossier only)	The chairholder’s report on activities and accomplishments achieved during the latest term of the chair.
   Capital and Spend Fund Balances (for Hospital-based Chairs only)	Confirmation of the Capital Fund book value and units and the balance in the spend fund.

4. Once reviewed and approved, a letter of appointment or reappointment from the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) is sent to the nominee, with a copy to the Dean of the Faculty and the department chair.
5. The department issues a Minerva Appointment Form to appoint or reappoint the named chair or professorship to the staff member's file in Banner using appropriate position code as listed in the Budget and Administration Guidelines section. The salary amount must be set to zero salary, unless the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) has approved a stipend for the appointment. The spend fund of the Chair of Professorship (restricted fund 2XXXXX) must be used in the FOAPAL section of the Minerva Appointment Form, even if the form is for a zero amount.