University of Illinois System

University Guidelines - Walgreen Endowed Chairs

A generous gift from the Walgreen family has established an endowment to support the appointment of Walgreen Chairs. In accordance with the fund agreement, the income from the endowment will be used to make faculty appointments at the elite level and support concomitant academic programs such as seminars, lectures, and colloquia. Walgreen Chairs are to be held by individuals whose intellect and accomplishment place them among those most distinguished in their respective field(s), as affirmed by such recognition as Nobel or Pulitzer Awards or by evidential works (literature, poetry, journalism, artistry, architecture, invention, service or engineering, mathematical, or scientific discovery, etc.). Appointees must be new to the University and may be assigned to or reside on any campus of the University of Illinois. The holders of the chairs shall also be designated as "Walgreen Fellows." 

Selection Process: Recruiting elite scholars of the stature envisioned for appointment as Walgreen Fellows will be a sensitive and delicate process. These scholars will be well recognized by their peers and highly appreciated by their current employers. The most effective approach is likely to be a targeted recruiting process, wherein selected individuals are recruited specifically to serve as Walgreen chairs or professors. Thus, the key step is soliciting nominations and deciding which candidates will then be vigorously recruited. Confidentiality of the process is essential and crucial.

The Walgreen Fellow Selection Committee has the primary responsibility for selecting those nominees to be recruited for the Walgreen chairs and professorships. This committee is appointed and chaired by the President (or the Vice President for Academic Affairs) and includes representatives of the very best scholars from our three campuses, nominated by the Provosts. Members provide broad representation of the intellectual breadth and diversity of the University and are themselves outstanding scholars who have been formally recognized by their peers and the University.

Nominations. Whenever there is a vacancy or anticipated vacancy in a Walgreen Chair, an announcement will be widely distributed to the academic leadership (Chancellor and Provost) on all three campuses that a vacancy exists and that the selection committee will entertain nominations at anytime as targets of opportunity. These targets will be identified by department heads and deans and submitted to the Walgreen Committee through the provosts, who must endorse them. Once the committee receives a nomination and determines that the request meets the high standards set by the donor, the Vice President for Academic Affairs will inform the provosts at the other two campuses that a nomination has been received. The VPAA will ask them if they had any nominations in progress. If so, the provosts would be asked to immediately forward to the VPAA whatever materials were at hand.

Selection. The committee considers the nomination materials of the candidate(s) and determines if more information is needed. Once all materials are in hand to make a preliminary decision, the committee will decide which, if any, nomination best meets the high standards set for Walgreen Fellows. If a candidate is chosen, the President will authorize the campus to proceed with recruitment. Once the appointment has been approved by the Board of Trustees and the University of Illinois Foundation, the VPAA will inform the academic departments on the campuses that an appointment was made and that no new nominations would be considered.

Funding: The amount of funds allocated to each Walgreen Chair will depend upon the income generated by the endowment and the number of Chairs. Initially, it is anticipated that $120,000 will be budgeted for each of two chairs. Of this amount, $75,000 (62%) will be applied to the appointee's salary, $30,000 (25%) will provide an allowance, and $15,000 (13%) will support seminars, lectures, and colloquia (these will be presented as "Walgreen Seminars," "Walgreen Lectures," etc.). The allowance will be used at the discretion of the Walgreen Fellow to further his or her research except that salary rate increases will not be permitted. Additional funds necessary to support each Walgreen Fellow will come from the appropriate department, college, or campus.

Appointments: It is assumed that each Walgreen Fellow will be granted the rank of professor with indefinite tenure. Walgreen Chair designations accompany tenured status; they do not carry tenure in and of themselves. Nevertheless, it is expected that appointees will hold the Walgreen Chair designation as long as they are a full-time faculty member and active in their department; there is not a specified length of appointment as there is with other chairs. An appointee holds tenure in a home unit with a professorial rank in a discipline, not in the named appointment. In such cases, tenure will reside in the department and not the Walgreen Chair. Thus, each Walgreen fellow will have a non-tenured appointment as "Walgreen Professor of . . ." and a tenured appointment as "professor of . . . ."