Distinguished McKnight University Professorship Program

A program of career development awards for outstanding mid-career faculty,

co-sponsored by the Graduate School and the Office of the Provost

Honoring the University’s finest mid-career faculty scholars

The strength of a university lies in the quality and vitality of its faculty.  For their professional lives to flourish, faculty members who have demonstrated a capacity for highly productive, innovative, and creative work must be honored and rewarded for bringing prominence to their university. 

Strengthening Our Faculty                                    

The goal of the Distinguished McKnight University Professorship program is to honor and reward the University of Minnesota’s highest-achieving faculty who recently have attained full professor status—especially those whose careers have developed at the University, whose intellectual work and reputation are identified with Minnesota, and whose work has brought great renown and prestige to the University of Minnesota.         

Faculty Development at the University of Minnesota                                   

In 1995, the University of Minnesota Graduate School created the Distinguished McKnight University Professorships. This program is made possible by a generous endowment gift from the McKnight Foundation to the University of Minnesota Graduate School, given in the mid-1980s and matched with a share of the Permanent University Fund resources, for the purposes of supporting faculty development.  Originally conceived as a career development plan for outstanding junior faculty, the program was expanded to incorporate this distinguished mid-career faculty award program.  The name signifies the importance the University places on this unique public-private partnership.

The University of Minnesota regards the Distinguished McKnight University Professorships as an important component of its University-wide faculty development programs, complementing the Regents’ Professorships for eminent senior faculty, the numerous endowed chairs created through the University’s capital campaign in the 1980s, the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chairs for retaining the best faculty in critical fields, the McKnight Presidential Fellows for newly-tenured associate professors, and the McKnight Land-Grant Professorships for promising junior faculty.

Program Description                       

Recipients are honored with the title Distinguished McKnight University Professor, which they hold for as long as they remain at the University of Minnesota.  The grant associated with the Professorship consists of $100,000 over five years, to be expended at the recipient’s discretion for research, scholarly, or artistic activities. 

The Selection of Recipients

Each year the Graduate School and the Office of the Provost invite departments to nominate their most outstanding faculty members who have recently achieved full professor status, by an early January deadline.  A committee of prominent faculty from across the University selects the winners, based on the following:  The merit of the scholarly or creative achievements and their identity with the University of Minnesota; the scope of the national and international reputation; the extent to which the work is distinctive and prestigious, and has developed and flourished at Minnesota; the quality of teaching and advising; and contributions to the wider community.  The new winners are presented to the Board of Regents in the spring.

View List of Recipients