Curators' Distinguished Professorships

A Curators' Distinguished Professorship is the highest and most prestigious academic rank awarded by the Curators of the University of Missouri. It is awarded to a select few outstanding scholars and teachers with established reputations. Each Curators' Distinguished Professor becomes a resource for the university and is expected to contribute by giving lectures on other campuses and engaging in teaching and research across divisional lines. Appointment to a Curators' Distinguished Professorship includes an honorarium for salary and research support. Appointments are for five years, renewable at the discretion of the chancellor.  

Review a current listing of Curators' Distinguished Professors and Teaching Professors.

General information about Curators' Distinguished Professorships can be found on the UM System awards page and in sections C and D of CRR302.070. Campus-specific information can be found on this page.

Process for Awarding Curators’ Distinguished Professorships

The Board of Curators appoints Curators' Distinguished Professors on the recommendation of the Chancellor. Nominations for Curators’ Distinguished Professorships may be initiated by a dean or by faculty members in the unit, but all nominations require support of the unit dean. Faculty considering nomination of a colleague should obtain confirmation of dean support prior to assembling the nomination materials.

To nominate a colleague for consideration, deans must provide the provost with an electronic portfolio for review. Portfolios must be emailed to awards@umkc.edu no later than March 1 of the nomination year. 

Curators’ Distinguished Professorship

Nomination materials must contain the following materials in one PDF document (in this order):

  • A nomination/cover letter, which is a two- to three-page statement prepared by the nominee or a colleague that identifies the primary contributions of the individual and provides a perspective so that non-experts in the field might understand the significant importance of the work. This statement is particularly helpful to the committee in reviewing the nominations.
  • A dean letter of support
  • Supporting letters, including evaluations of the candidate’s work by prominent people knowledgeable in the field.
  • Examples of the nominee’s finest work (limited to two or three examples).
  • The nominee’s curriculum vitae

Curators’ Teaching Professorship

Nomination materials must contain the following materials in one PDF document (in this order):

  • A nomination/cover letter
  • Dean letter of support
  • Supporting letters, which must include opinions of prominent people in the nominee's discipline. 
  • The nominee's personal philosophy of teaching statement (two to three pages), including how research and service are reflected in teaching.
  • A list of courses taught (include syllabi)
  • A summarization of all course evaluation data (separate for each course). Include departmental norms, multiple sources and method of solicitation, but no raw data.
  • Other supportive materials
  • The nominee's curriculum vitae

Upon receipt of nominations by the March 1 deadline, the provost solicits the advice of a panel of current Curators' Distinguished Professors and current Curators' Distinguished Teaching Professors who evaluate each portfolio and compare it with the records of other outstanding faculty members in the candidate’s discipline both within UMKC and nationally. The provost reviews each nomination along with the advice of the panel, and makes an independent recommendation to the chancellor.

The chancellor reviews each nomination along with the recommendations of the panel and provost to determine which nominations will advance to the system level. For those nominations, the chancellor forwards a recommendation and the portfolio to the UM System president who, if approving, presents the candidate for approval by the Board of Curators.