University Professor is the highest honor that can be conferred on faculty members at Syracuse University and is awarded by the Chancellor and Board of Trustees. Except in extraordinary circumstances, only faculty members who are tenured and who have previously attained the rank of Professor may be named a University Professor. Given the prestige associated with the title of University Professor, it should be assigned sparingly and in accord with the very highest standards of excellence. In its main, the University Professor designation should be used as a recruitment tool to attract transformational faculty leaders, although there may be occasions in which it is appropriate to award the title of University Professor internally.
University Professors are appointed by the Provost, with concurrence of the Chancellor and approval by the Board of Trustees, for four-year renewable terms, with formal review by the Provost in the third year. Contingent upon approval by the University Senate, the title University Professor Emeritus may be granted upon retirement.
Selection criteria:
University Professors must demonstrate exceptional and widely recognized scholarly or creative reach across multiple traditional disciplines or fields. Additionally, their scholarly or creative work must be widely recognized as groundbreaking across multiple fields, both among their peers at Syracuse University and among the scholarly communities of which they are part. In other words, University Professors must be innovative academic leaders who have pushed the boundaries of existing knowledge across fields.
Three primary criteria guide the selection of University Professors:
- The individual’s accomplishments must be of the highest order of importance and excellence, as recognized by peers both within and outside the University, nationally and abroad.
- The individual’s professional work, research, or creative endeavors must substantially transcend the traditional discipline and subject-area boundaries that characterize specific schools, colleges, or departments.
- For external candidates, the individual must have demonstrated a strong commitment to the university or universities where they have worked through significant and ongoing contributions to the intellectual life of their university as a whole. For internal candidates, the individual must have demonstrated a strong commitment to Syracuse University through significant and ongoing contributions to the intellectual life of the University as a whole.
University Professor privileges:
A University Professor shall be granted the following special perquisites and privileges:
- An annual, discretionary bourse of $10,000 to $20,000 to help support their professional work.
- The opportunity to design and pursue research, teaching, and other activities with faculty in every school and college, as well as with every center and institute, subject only to general University policies regarding each domain of faculty work.
- Reduced teaching responsibilities. (Note that it is generally expected that a University Professor not teach less than two organized courses on campus per year.)
University Professor responsibilities:
A University Professor shall be accountable to the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees through the Vice Chancellor, Provost, and Chief Academic Officer. Affiliation with one or more specific departments, schools, or colleges is not required of University Professors, although they may choose to formally establish such relationships with the concurrence of the respective academic units and the Provost.
University Professors’ primary responsibilities include:
- Active participation in the intellectual life of the University, including efforts to advance the University’s standing through both scholarship and teaching.
- One graduate or undergraduate course each semester, at least one of which is offered in-person each year. The determination of a University Professor’s teaching responsibilities (as well as leaves and merit raises) shall be made by the Provost in consultation with the relevant deans in the schools and colleges where the University Professor would generally teach.
- Collaboration with the Provost and Academic Affairs to mentor and support early-career faculty with interdisciplinary interests and aspirations.
- At least one public lecture during a four-year appointment, with the hope that each University Professor will offer one public lecture each year.
- University Professors should submit an annual activities report and updated curriculum vita by the end of March each year to the Provost, along with their requested teaching schedule for the coming academic year.
University Professor nomination and selection process:
Since the title of University Professor is primarily envisioned as a way to recruit transformational and exceptional faculty leaders with reach across multiple fields/disciplines, nominations and selection of University Professors will typically commence with the Provost’s or Chancellor’s identification and recruitment of strong candidates for this position.
Selection of University Professors, in contrast to the selection of Distinguished Professors, does not require external vetting of the candidate’s scholarship, but it is clearly understood that University Professors must be among the few strongest and most accomplished academic citizens of the University. Upon identification of an exceptional candidate, the Provost will discuss the nomination with the Chancellor and seek the Chancellor’s support of the recommendation to the Board of Trustees for approval.
For internal nominations, the process will begin with the submission of a formal nomination letter from a Dean, along with the faculty member’s curriculum vita. Such nomination should follow a conversation with the Provost about the merits of a faculty member’s candidacy.
Approved by Executive Committee: September 2022
Revised version approved by Provost: July 7, 2025