FINAL Marchese Program

THE TRADITON OF ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS
The first endowed professorships were established more than 500 years ago with
the creation of the Lady Margaret Beaufort Professors of Divinity at Oxford and
Cambridge Universities. The original endowed chairs were sponsored by Lady
Margaret, Countess of Richmond, and grandmother of Henry VIII in 1502.
Subsequently, private individuals began making financial contributions to
establish other endowed professorships and chairs such as the Lucasian Chair of
Mathematics, which Sir Isaac Newton held beginning in 1669. Professor Stephen
Hawking, the internationally renowned physicist and recipient of the 2010 US
Medal of Freedom, was another prominent holder of this endowed chair.
The honor associated with appointment to an endowed position has remained
unchanged for the last 500 years and is recognized as one of the highest tributes
that an academic institution can bestow upon its most distinguished faculty.
These endowed professorships and chairs continue to reward exceptional scholars
uninterrupted to the present time.
The Office of Development is charged with securing private gifts to ensure the
School’s tradition of excellence is sustained through robust research, clinical, and
educational programs and initiatives. The University of Maryland School of
Medicine is fortunate to have nearly 85 endowed chairs & professorships in
various stages of completion and held by esteemed faculty members.