University's top-notch profs

Symbolic presentation of the university's first endowed chair in 1985 (left to right): former Fresno State president Harold Haak, the late Edward Reighard, donor, and former School of Business dean Joseph Penbera.

A distinguished group of faculty at Fresno State -- nine privately funded chairs and professorships -- are being counted on to help raise the stature of the university. Eight are endowed positions and one is a contract chair.

Privately funded chairs and professorships are designed to attract top faculty who are often expected to serve special roles beyond the typical faculty assignment. In most cases, interest from the principal of the endowment is used to pay or enhance a professor's salary and also to fund academic achievement or professional development. In the case of a contract position, the fund is used in its entirety and can be renewed after a specified number of years.

Each chair and professorship is designed uniquely to meet the donor's wishes and to benefit the program or department in perpetuity, said Randy Larson, director of Financial Services for the Foundation.

Whether an endowed position is called a chair or professorship is determined by the donor and department. The terms are synonymous at Fresno State. Two endowed chairs are fully funded - the other endowed positions are considered partially funded, with interest from the donation augmenting the state salary. The amount of the augmentation varies with each endowment agreement.

As the first endowed chair of any business school in the CSU system, the Edward Reighard Endowed Chair of Management was established in the School of Business at Fresno State in 1985.

That same year, the School of Business received a second major gift to establish the Theodore F. Brix Endowed Chair in Finance. "I would not have left my former position for a lower paying job at California State University, Fresno if it had not been for the endowment and the prestige of holding this [Brix] chair," said Dr. K.C. Chen, professor of finance.

Dr. Timothy Stearns, who holds the Reighard Endowed Chair, concurred. "Put quite simply, the endowed chair attracted me to the university. I would have kept my position or applied for a more attractive offer at another university had it not been for the Reighard Endowed Chair."

These two endowed chairs, created in the '80s, spurred University Advancement to seek other perpetual gifts to enhance the endowment fund and provide for prestigious positions.

Fresno State became one of the CSU system leaders in the '90s by adding eight endowed chairs and professorships in four schools and one chair on a private contract in Viticulture.

The Roger Tatarian Endowed Chair in Journalism was important for two reasons, said Dr. Jim Flanery. Not only did the fund enhance his salary, but Tatarian was a close friend and former colleague of Flanery's.

"I am honored to try, the best I can, to carry on in the Tatarian tradition," Flanery said. For Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, the honor of holding the Haig and Isabel Berberian Chair in Armenian Studies is also part of a tradition -- carrying on the cultural heritage and history of Armenia.

"I started the fund drive for the chair to guarantee the continuation of the Armenian Studies Program forever at Fresno State," said Kouymjian. "The Berberian Chair helps assure that my successors will be chosen from the finest Armenologists in the world."

The smallest program on campus to have an endowed chair, the Armenian Studies Program has the largest number of faculty of any Armenian studies program in the nation.

Housing the most recent recipient of an endowed chair, the School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology welcomed

Dr. Sanliang Gu as the Ricchiuti Chair of Viticulture Research just last month. The money, according to Gu, was not what brought him to Fresno. "I did not take a salary increase by coming to Fresno," stated Gu. "The most important reasons for accepting the Ricchiuti Chair were the prestige of working in one of the finest viticulture and enology research centers in the world and the opportunities I will have at this institution."

Joe Bezerra considers it an honor to be the interim Julio R. Gallo Director's Chair. "Being part of the premiere viticulture and enology applied research university in the United States is extremely gratifying," he said. The prestige and lasting professional relationships established from holding the chair are more valuable than any of the other position benefits, Bezerra said.

Dr. Daniel Bartell, dean of the School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, said his school has plans for more endowed chairs and professorships. "It is ever more important to draw world-class faculty to our school so that our students have the very best educational and research opportunities," Bartell said.

Dr. Fred Evans, dean of the Craig School of Business, agreed that endowed chairs are sought-after positions.

"To compete with other top business schools for the best faculty, we need salary enhancement, professional development opportunities, and prestige that make the positions attractive," said Evans.

Dr. Isabel Kaprielian is the Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Professor in Modern Armenian and Immigration History and is the only woman to currently hold an endowed position. A full-time faculty member in the Department of History, Kaprielian is cross-appointed to the Armenian Studies Program.

"Endowed positions allow the university to stretch its funds into offerings along less well-traveled roads such as the study of genocide," said Dr. Ellen Gruenbaum, School of Social Sciences dean. "The Kazan endowment allows us to enrich our offerings in areas that were not possible with state funding alone."

Twenty-eight years ago, mushrooms brought Dr. Joo Kim and Dr. B. B. Stoller together. "Dr. Stoller and I both had a mutual interest in mushroom research and he endowed a position to guarantee the continuation of our studies," Kim said. Kim initiated and helped to secure the Stoller Distinguished Professorship in Food Technology, which he has held for five years.

Dr. James Highsmith, the Verna Mae and Wayne A. Brooks Professor of Business Law, said the three-year appointment of the endowed position is a means to recognize professors while they are teaching.

Highsmith believes the CSU system has not adequately recognized professors; he said the Brooks Professorship honors what students see as the most important thing in their education -- their professors.

Although the CSU advancement office does not have complete lists of endowed and contract chairs for the system, the office indicated that Fresno State is among the leaders in the CSU for endowed positions.

Privately Funded Chairs

Chair	School	Fund	Professor
Gallo Director's Chair	Ag	$1,000,000	Joe Bezerra
Ricchiuti Chair	Ag	$797,258	Dr. Sanliang Gu
Stoller Professorship	Ag	$301,287	Dr. Joo Kim
Berberian Chair	Arts & Humanities	$574,309	Dr. Dickran Kouymjian
Tatarian Chair	Arts & Humanities	$408,263	Dr. Jim Flanery
Brix Chair	Business	$476,050	Dr. K.C. Chen
Reighard Chair	Business	$1,161,249	Dr. Timothy Stearns
Brooks Professorship	Business	$414,711	Dr. James Highsmith
Kazan Professorship	Social Sciences	$375,005	Dr. Isabel Kaprielian

** Endowment Value is determined as of 2/25/99 and includes original donation and any securities profit earned to-date.