Two University of Memphis professors each year will be awarded stipends to continue working on projects of their choice.
The stipends, which will amount to a minimum of $8,000 per year for three years, will be presented by the Union Planters Bank/Benjamin W. Rawlins Jr. Meritorious Professorship Recognition Award Program to deserving professors and associate professors who have served on the University's faculty for at least eight years.
Ralph Faudree, interim president of the U of M, said the program has been developed to award faculty.
"This program will enable us to recognize our excellent faculty and to provide them with resources to be even more productive," Faudree said.
U of M faculty members, department chairs and administrators may nominate professors to Richard Ranta, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts. A committee of faculty members and representatives of Union Planters Bank will select the awardees.
"The generosity of Union Planters in honor of Benjamin Rawlins will be extremely important in helping the college reward and retain some of our best professors, especially in this time of severely limited state support," Ranta said.
Union Planters developed the program in honor of Rawlins, former Union Planters chairman and executive officer. Jack Moore, current chief executive officer of Union Planters, said his company wanted to finish Rawlins' work.
"This professorship is something that Ben had envisioned and had worked on prior to his death," Moore said. "It is an excellent and lasting way to perpetuate Ben's legacy."
Faudree called Rawlins an "enthusiastic proponent of education and a great champion of this institution."
Union Planters will provide the $400,000 endowment for the program over the next few years. Moore said the money is already in place and The University would decide on a time table for the program.
The stipends will be awarded to professors who have excelled in areas such as teaching, scholarship, service and outreach.
For more information about the program, contact Union Planters Bank board member Brad Champlain at 580-2473.
