Endowed professorships and directorships bring impactful scholars to Penn — passionate teachers who advance the frontiers of research and help redefine professional practice. Proceeds from endowed positions fuel the recipient’s work and elevate the reputation of the department and School.
Endowment support creates a perpetual funding stream that allows successive generations of professors and associate professors to turn studios and laboratories into incubators for progress. Support for a professorship will advance the frontiers of problem-solving and redefine the boundaries of practice. In turn, these professors attract outstanding junior faculty and gifted students.
This moment calls for architects, artists, designers, historic preservationists, and planners with the tenacity and vision to generate solutions for seemingly insurmountable challenges. Climate, resource distribution, affordable housing—these issues and more require powerful design and planning leadership. Faculty provide that dynamism, as they advance research and mentor others in order to protect and enhance the future of life on earth.
The centers at the Weitzman School allow networks of researchers, thought leaders, and practitioners to work in agile, cost-efficient hubs, generating the greatest impact. Endowed directorships help boost the vibrancy and productivity of these centers. Whether donors want to advance energy policy, urban development and ecology, or the creation and preservation of public art, gifts will ensure that important priorities and scholarship have dynamic guidance.
Visiting lecturers bring an infusion of new thought and global perspective to campus. Endowments in this arena give the entire Penn community—and the broader public—access to renowned thinkers through the Spring and Fall lecture series.
It is truly my honor to serve as the Meyerson Professor of Urbanism, which aligns so beautifully with my own focus on urban ecology and the public realm. This has been an extraordinary year for the department, and I’m so proud of the great work, research, and accomplishments of our students, faculty, and staff.