McKnight Land-Grant Professorship Program

A program of career development awards for junior faculty

co-sponsored by the Graduate School and the Office of the Provost

Strengthening Our Faculty for the Future                       

The major purpose of the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship program is to nurture the careers of the University of Minnesota’s most promising junior faculty members in order to strengthen the faculty for the future.  The program is designed to advance the careers of assistant professors who are at the beginning stages of their professional careers, and who have the potential to make significant contributions to their scholarly fields.  The program is also intended to foster an esprit de corps among these future faculty leaders, and to help build a sense of loyalty to the institution.

Faculty Development at the University of Minnesota

In 1987, the University of Minnesota Graduate School established the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, a program of career development awards for junior faculty.  The McKnight Land-Grant Professorship was named for a significant endowment gift from the McKnight Foundation that was then combined with a share of the Permanent University Fund (PUF).  This Fund, released to the University by the legislature in 1985, came from the original Land Grant to the University.  The name of the Professorship emphasizes this public-private partnership.

The program complements other University-wide faculty development programs, including the McKnight Presidential Fellows for newly-tenured associate professors, the Distinguished McKnight University Professorships for outstanding mid-career faculty, the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chairs for retaining the best faculty in critical fields, and the Regents Professorships held by eminent senior faculty.           

Program Description

The McKnight Land-Grant Professorship is a two-year appointment that includes a research grant in each of the two years, to be used at the recipient's discretion for expenditures directly related to research and scholarly activities.  In addition, each Professor is awarded either a year's leave to pursue research during the second year of the award or a supplementary research grant. 

The Selection of Recipients                                   

Each year in the fall, every department across the University is invited to nominate its most promising tenure-track assistant professor whose PhD (or comparable degree in professional fields) was earned within the past seven years and whose appointment at the University was begun within the past three years.  The nominations are reviewed by a selection committee composed of distinguished faculty from across the University.  The recipients are chosen for the significance of the research and the clarity with which it is conveyed to the non-specialist; the degree to which past and present achievements demonstrate originality, imagination, and innovation; the potential for significant contribution to the discipline; the quality of scholarly publications; and the potential for attracting outstanding students.  The new winners are presented to the Board of Regents in the spring.

McKnight Land-Grant Nominating Instructions for 2009

McKnight Land-Grant Professorship Recipients