UNC faculty members named to distinguished professorships

CHAPEL HILL -- From June through September, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill named 30 faculty members to endowed professorships, designations created through gifts to the university and which recognize excellence in teaching and research.

A key goal of the university’s Carolina First campaign is to create 200 new endowed professorships. Including the most recent designations, the university has created 105 thus far in the campaign. Carolina First is a comprehensive, multi-year private fund-raising campaign to support Carolina’s vision of becoming the nation’s leading public university.

Gifts for endowed professorships are invested, and a portion of the investment income supplements the professor’s salary. Endowed funds provide a permanent source of income because the principal is not spent, university officials said.

Overall, the university has 445 professorships in place or in the process of being funded. Gifts to establish professorships may be supplemented with matching funds from the state’s Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund, established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1985.

The oldest continuously endowed chairs at Carolina are the Mary Ann Smith professorships in chemistry, established in 1891. Smith made her will in 1861, leaving half of her estate to Carolina for endowment of "such a chair as shall teach both the science of chemistry and its experimental application to the useful arts."

Following are the distinguished professorship designees approved by the Board of Trustees from June through September, listed by academic affiliation:

• Dr. Reid Barbour, professor, department of English, as Gillian T. Cell distinguished term professor through June 30, 2008.
• Dr. Roberto A. Camassa, professor, department of mathematics, as George Kane distinguished term professor through June 30, 2008.
• Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, professor and chairman, department of religious studies, as James A. Gray distinguished professor.
• Dr. David K. Guilkey, professor, department of economics, as Cary C. Boshamer distinguished professor.
• Dr. Kathleen M. Harris, professor, department of sociology, as Gillian T. Cell distinguished term professor through June 30, 2008.
• Dr. Lloyd S. Kramer, professor, department of history, as Dean Smith distinguished term professor through June 30, 2008.
• Dr. Michael Rubinstein, professor, department of chemistry, as J. Ross MacDonald distinguished term professor through June 30, 2008.
• Dr. Christian S. Smith, professor, department of sociology, as Stuart Chapin distinguished term professor through June 30, 2008.
• Dr. Sean Washburn, professor and chair of applied and materials sciences, department of physics and astronomy, as Cary C. Boshamer distinguished professor.
• Dr. Otto Zhou, associate professor, department of physics and astronomy, as Lyle Jones distinguished term associate professor through June 30, 2008.

• Dr. Barry L. Bayus, professor, as Roy O. Rodwell distinguished professor.
• Dr. Edward L. Maydew, professor, as David E. Hoffman distinguished term professor through Aug. 31, 2006.
• Dr. Aleda Roth, professor, as Mary Farley Ames Lee distinguished professor.
• Dr. Albert Segars, professor, as RBC Centura distinguished professor.

• Dr. Charles F. Brantley, clinical associate professor of dentistry, as Jim and Isabel Harrell Sr. distinguished clinical associate professor of family dentistry, department of diagnostic sciences and general dentistry.
• Dr. Lyndon F. Cooper, associate professor of prosthodontics, as Stallings distinguished associate professor of prosthodontics and implant dentistry.
• Dr. Steven Offenbacher, professor, department of periodontology, as OraPharma distinguished professor of periodontal medicine.
• Dr. Michael Roberts, professor and chairman, department of pediatric dentistry, as Dr. Donald Henson and Mrs. Alexandra Henson distinguished professor of pediatric dentistry.

• Dr. Barbara H. Wasik, professor, as William R. Kenan Jr. professor.

• Dr. Keith W.T. Burridge, professor, department of cell and developmental biology, as Kenan professor.
• Dr. Nancy C. Chescheir, professor, department of obstetrics and gynecology, as Charles Hendricks distinguished professor of obstetrics and gynecology.
• Dr. Harvey Hamrick, professor of pediatrics, as Medical Alumni distinguished teaching professor.
• Dr. Kendall T. Harden, professor, department of pharmacology, as Kenan professor.
• Dr. Nobuyo Maeda, professor, department of pathology and laboratory medicine, as Robert H. Wagner distinguished professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.
• Dr. Winston Campbell Patterson, professor, department of medicine, as Henry A. Foscue distinguished professor of medicine and cardiology.
• Dr. Robert S. Sandler, professor of medicine, as Nina and John T. Sessions distinguished professor of digestive diseases and nutrition.

• Dr. Barbara K. Rimer, professor, department of health behavior and health education, as Alumni distinguished professor.
• Dr. David Savitz, professor and chairman, department of epidemiology, as Cary C. Boshamer distinguished professor.
• Dr. Robert G. Wetzel, professor, department of environmental sciences and engineering, as William R. Kenan Jr. professor.
• Dr. Steven Zeisel, professor and chairman, department of nutrition (jointly housed in the schools of public health and medicine), as American Institute for Cancer Research distinguished term professor in food, nutrition and prevention of cancer through Sept. 30, 2006.

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News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu