The Rosemary and Walter Blankley Endowed Chair in Education
Walter and Rosemary Deniken Blankley ’57, ’06H donated $1 million to create the Rosemary and Walter Blankley Endowed Chair in Education. The chair recognizes the importance of education, as evidenced by the Blankleys’ commitment to supporting education throughout their lives and while Rosemary was a student at Beaver College.
This is the first donor designated endowed chair in the University’s history. Dr. Ellen Skilton, professor of education, was appointed The Rosemary and Walter Blankley Endowed Chair in Education during an investiture ceremony on March 6, 2014.
Award Recipients
Blankley Endowed Chair FAQs
What is an endowed chair?
An endowed chair is the highest academic award that a university can bestow on a faculty member. Endowed chairs greatly benefit faculty, students, and a university’s standing by encouraging and facilitating a professor’s research or service agenda and are among the most important gifts to higher education.
How long does the faculty member hold the chair?
Recipients of the endowed chair hold the honor for an initial term of three years. At the end of the term, the chair passes to a different faculty member in the School of Education. The same individual may hold the Blankley Chair more than once, but a full term of at least three years must pass before eligibility may be reinstated.
What does funding provided by an endowed chair support?
The funding provided by a chair often is used to attract an expert in a particular field and supports his or her research, teaching, and service activities—all in an effort to make advances in a field of study or toward solving societal or scientific issues.
What does an endowed chair signify for the selected faculty member(s)?
An endowed chair appointment represents the highest level of distinction for a faculty member while recognizing his or her contributions to a particular discipline or scholarly field.
Endowed Chair Gifts
Endowed chairs are crucial in recruiting, supporting, and retaining the best faculty at colleges and universities.
University Advancement and Development Office
16 Forsythe Ave.
Glenside, PA 19038
215-572-2945
