Distinguished and Endowed Professorships

Distinguished ProfessorSHIPS

A distinguished professorship is an honorary position held by a new or existing tenured faculty member who is a recognized national or international leader in their field and a scholar who has demonstrated a high level of productivity. A Distinguished Professorship title becomes the faculty member’s primary rank.

A Distinguished Professor is expected to enhance the academic and research programs of their department and college. The expectation is that the individual in the Distinguished Professorship position will, because of their accomplishments, assist the development of junior faculty and provide important guidance to the programmatic development of the entire unit.

UNC Charlotte has a substantial number of distinguished professorships. These professorships are generally established by donors and supplemented with state funds from the Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund which was established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1985.

Conferral of a Distinguished Professor title and position requires approval by the Provost, the Chancellor, the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees, and the President of the UNC System. Upon approval of the System President, the Office of Academic Affairs issues the appointment for the Distinguished Professorship.

Belk College of Business

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Addison H. and Gertrude C. Reese Distinguished Professor in International Business

Franz Kellermanns
Department of Management

Belk Distinguished Professor in Business InnovationJustin Webb
Department of Management
Belk Distinguished Professor in Business AdministrationDavid Woehr
Department of Management
Belk Distinguished Professor in Business AnalyticsDongsong Zhang
Department of Business Information Systems and Operations Management
Childress Klein Distinguished Professor of Real Estate and Urban EconomicsYongqiang Chu
Department of Finance
Distinguished Professor in AccountingAloke Ghosh
Turner School of Accountancy
Distinguished Professor in Risk Management and InsuranceWeidong Tian
Department of Finance
James J. Harris Endowed Chair in Risk Management and InsuranceGene Lai
Department of Finance
John Crosland, Sr., Distinguished Professor in Real Estate and DevelopmentPatrick Smith
Department of Finance
The Jule R. and Marguerite Surtman Distinguished Professor in Business EthicsDenis Arnold
Department of Management
Torrence Hemby, Sr. Endowed Chair in Financial ServicesDavid C. Mauer
Department of Finance
Steven Ott Distinguished Professor in Real EstateChandler Lutz
Department of Finance

Cato College of Education

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor in Urban EducationChance W. Lewis
Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education
Lake and Edward J. Snyder, Jr., Distinguished Professor in Special EducationHedda Meadan-Kaplansky
Department of Special Education and Child Development
Spangler Distinguished Professor of Early Childhood LiteracyKelly Cartwright
Department of Reading and Elementary Education

College of Arts + Architecture

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Anne Reynolds Belk Distinguished Professor in MusicDavid L. Russell
Department of Music
Russell M. Robinson, II, Distinguished Professor in ShakespeareAndrew Hartley
Department of Theatre

College of Computing and Informatics

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor in Bioinformatics and GenomicsDaniel Janies
Departmentof Bioinformatics and Genomics

College of Health and Human Services

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor in NursingPatricia Crane
School of Nursing
Dean W. Colvard Distinguished ProfessorMark DeHaven
Department of Public Health Sciences
Irwin Belk Distinguished Professor in Health ResearchRobert Cramer
Department of Public Health Sciences
Metrolina Medical Foundation Distinguished Professor of Public Policy on HealthApryl Alexander
Department of Public Health Sciences

College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Distinguished Professor in Health Care EthicsRuth Groenhout
Department of Philosophy
Isaac Swift Distinguished Professor in Jewish StudiesMartin Shuster
Department of Philosophy
Knight Distinguished Professor of Public PolicyJean-Claude F. Thill
Department of Geography & Earth Sciences
Marshall A. Rauch Distinguished Professor in Political ScienceRegina Branton
Department of Political Science and Public Administration

College of Science

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Irwin Belk Distinguished Professor in Cancer ResearchPinku Mukherjee
Department of Biological Sciences
Irwin Belk Distinguished Scholar in BiologyXiaojun Ren
Department of Biological Sciences

William States Lee College of Engineering

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Belk-Woodward Distinguished Professor in EngineeringSteven Schmid
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science
Duke Energy Distinguished Chair of Power Engineering SystemsMichael Mazzola
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Duke Energy Distinguished Professor in EngineeringSukumar Kamalasadan
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Howard C. and Sara H. Bissell Distinguished Professor in EngineeringYong Zhang
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Norvin Kennedy Dickerson, Jr. Distinguished ProfessorEdward Morse
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science

Endowed Professors

Belk College of Business

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Rush S. Dickson Professor of FinanceTao-Hsien (Dolly) King
Department of Finance

College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Blumenthal Professor of Judaic StudiesJohn C. Reeves
Department of Religious Studies
Charles H. Stone Professor of American HistoryJohn David Smith
Department of History
Frank Porter Graham Professor of Africana StudiesTanure Ojaide
Department of Africana Studies
Robert E. Bailey Professor of HistoryDavid R. Goldfield
Department of History

College of Science

ProfessorshipIncumbent
Charles H. Stone Professor of ChemistryCraig Ogle
Department of Chemistry