UCSF Presidential Chair Award

The UCSF Presidential Chair Award is on hiatus this year to allow its funds to replenish. Please check back in September 2025 for updates.

Three Recipients Announced for the 2024-25 UCSF Presidential Chair Award – View Announcement

The UCSF Presidential Chair is intended to encourage new or interdisciplinary program development or to enhance quality in existing academic programs of the University.

To meet this broad goal of contributing to the enrichment of campus academic life, UCSF allocates Presidential Chair funding of up to $150,000 to support the appointment of a distinguished visiting professor for up to one year.

In addition to participating in research, instruction, or other creative activities, each incumbent is expected to present a major public lecture or series of lectures. It is also intended that incumbents be highly visible on campus, and that their tenure be accompanied by appropriate campus-wide activities and publicity.

Award Amount: $150,000

Number of Awards:  One or more (based on available funds)

Appointment: Visiting Professor

Term: One fiscal year

Nominations by UCSF faculty members only. Self-nominations are not accepted.

Contact:  Abby Draper

Appointment Term And Duration

The Presidential Chair is appointed for a maximum of 12 months.

Appointment duration:

• Maximum of one fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).
• Minimum of 1 quarter (10 weeks). Must be employed for an equivalent of full-time service (i.e. 400 hours). This could be accumulated at one time or over multiple visits.
• Nominations of less than full-time and/or for less than one quarter should include substantial justification within the proposal.

Appointment start date:

• Each appointment starting date will be negotiated separately.
• When stating a desired starting date, please keep in mind that a minimum lead-time of four months is needed for a non-US citizen to make visa and other travel arrangements.

Title:

• Although the working title will be Presidential Chair, the individual will be appointed as a Visiting Professor (Title Code 1108-1714).

Appointment process:

• The appointment will be governed by APM 230 and the academic home department(s) will be required to submit an appointment packet through the Advance system.

Funding

Award Amount:

• A maximum of $150,000 may be awarded to a Presidential Chair appointee for the upcoming fiscal year.
• The award amount is commensurate with the duration of the appointment. Salary rate should be justified and reasonable based on objective factors (such as compensation levels for comparable positions).

Use of Funds:

• Award funds may be used to support the recipient’s salary (with appropriate justification), instructional activities, research, or other creative activities of the incumbent chair holder.
• If justified by the proposal, associated costs such as housing, travel, research supplies and other related expenses may also be considered.
• For more details on the use of funds and allowable expenses, view policy and budget guide.

Airfare:

• Funds may be used to reimburse a Visiting title for one round-trip airline ticket on the condition that they are also employed for an equivalent of full-time service for a minimum of 1 quarter (10 weeks) [APM 230]. This service (i.e., 400 hours) could be accumulated over multiple visits.

Budget Development:

• All expenditures should follow the terms and conditions of the Presidential Chair Award, as outlined in the policy and budget guide.
• For assistance with budget development, please work with the UCSF host school or/and host department (i.e. school dean’s office, department finance analysts, department HR Academic Generalist).
• Use of the budget template is recommended.
• A detailed budget justification (separate from the budget) should provide a description and explanation for all expenses. See budget justification guidelines for details.
• For general information and resources on budget development and justification, visit the UCSF Office of Sponsored Research - Develop A Budget website.

 

Host Department(s) Responsibilities

The host department(s) is responsible for all aspects of the nominee’s visit, including:

• Publicity and campus announcements related to the appointee.
• Setting up the appointment.
• Working with the department’s HR Service Center Academic Generalist representative.
• Helping the recipient access resources.
• Providing appropriate advice on housing and living in the local community.
• Assuring that the visa process is appropriately handled for international recipients. Departments and nominators should always consult with the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO).
• Making all expense reimbursements and payroll arrangements for the recipient during the term of the professorship.
• Working with the appropriate administrators to develop a budget and a separate budget justification that complies with APM 230 and other UC policies with respect to salary, qualifying for travel (including airfare) and reimbursement of expenses. Policy details and budget tools provided below under Resources.

Reporting Requirements:

• Within two months after the Presidential Chair appointment ends, the host department will submit a brief report to the Office of the Vice Provost Academic Affairs.
• The report should summarize the Presidential Chair’s activities and provide an account of the funds expended.

Nomination Process and Evaluation Criteria

Nomination packets submitted by departments are reviewed by an ad hoc committee appointed by the Vice Provost Academic Affairs. The Vice Provost will make the final decision based on the committee’s recommendations, at which point all nominators will be notified.

The following criteria are used to evaluate the nominations. some nominators have used the evaluation criteria outline to structure their proposals).

Evaluation Criteria:

Download Evaluation Guidelines (pdf)

1. Plan
   Presidential Chairs are intended to encourage new or interdisciplinary program development or enhance quality in existing academic programs.
   • If encouraging new program development,
     • How does this program relate to and enhance existing programs?
     • Or in what way does it fill a need not currently met on campus?
     • Who will benefit from having that need filled?
   • If encouraging interdisciplinary program development,
     • What special qualities does this program have that will promote success across disciplines?
     • Are the disciplines to be bridged commonly paired, or are there unusual, innovative, or novel bridges that may be formed?
   • If enhancing quality in existing academic programs,
     • How broad is the benefit likely to be?  
     • Which UCSF groups will benefit: faculty, trainees, students, staff, all?
     • Which sites/programs will benefit?
       [UCSF Presidential Chair Guidelines- Sect. 1]
   • For all proposals, the UCSF Presidential Chair should:
     • Generate appropriate campus-wide activities and publicity.
     • Present a major public lecture or series of lectures.
       [UCSF Presidential Chair Guidelines, Sect. 1 & 3]
2. Nominee
   • Distinction and Qualifications:
     • Has the nominee achieved a high level of distinction in their area of expertise?
     • Are they recognized as a leader in their field?
     • Will the level of distinction of the candidate prompt an extraordinary degree of participation and response from campus groups?  
     • How appropriate are the candidate’s qualifications for the plan?
   • What special qualities does the candidate bring to UCSF that will promote success (for a group, department, school or organization)?
   • Employment duration and effort:
     • The candidate should be employed for an equivalent of full-time service for a minimum of 1 quarter (10 weeks).
     • This service (i.e., 400 hours) may be accumulated over multiple visits/engagements as is recommended by the Vice Provost and in comportment with the travel reimbursement requirements for Visiting Professors [APM-230-20h(1)]
   • Does the nominee have broad support from UCSF faculty?  
   • Will the candidate be viewed as a campus-wide resource? [APM-265, Sect. 6]
3. Innovation
   • Does the plan utilize novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies?
   • Is a refinement, improvement or new application proposed?
   • What area(s) of the candidate’s expertise will contribute to program innovation?
4. Budget
   • Appropriateness of proposed budget.  Are budget items justified and reasonable in relation to the proposal?
   • Is the proposed salary (if any) justified and reasonable in relation to the nominee’s appointment time and duration?
   • Does the budget comply with University, UCSF Campus and VPAA administration policies?  
   • Use of the budget template recommended.
   • For more information, please refer to the policy and budget guide and the budget justification guidelines.
5. Overall Impact
   • What relevance does the program have to the UCSF's mission and values?
   • In what ways will the program enrich campus academic life?  [UCSF Presidential Chair Guidelines, Sect. 1]
   • Will the program have broad impact across the campus as a whole - across groups (students, trainees, faculty), across sites?
   • If encouraging interdisciplinary program development, will the program have broad impact across programs, across disciplines or across schools?
   • In what areas will the impact be felt? Research/ or Clinical Care? Teaching? Public/University Service?
   • To what extent have the sponsors planned campus activities that will maximize participation from different constituencies?  To what extent will the planned activities be “campus-wide” and accessible to a broad spectrum of the UCSF community?
   • What lasting value will derive from this visit? What is the likelihood that benefits from the visit will outlast the nominee’s appointment term?
   • What is the likelihood that the nominee or/and proposal will have a sustained influence on the campus? On the broader academic community? On the field?

Nomination Packet

The nomination packet must include all components below.  To submit, all documents must be combined into a single PDF document.

1. Completed nomination form (view past form).
2. Nomination statement (summary of the purpose of the proposed appointment and a detailed plan of the scholar’s intended activities while at UCSF).
3. Detailed budget - $150,000 maximum (budget template and policy and budget guide).
4. Justification of budget items (budget justification guidelines).  Describe the purpose, necessity, and cost break-down of all items listed in the budget.
5. Letter of support and concurrence from the dean of the relevant school. As appropriate, faculty who would benefit from the appointment should also provide letters of support.
6. CV of the nominee.

Submit packet by January (TBA) via email as a single PDF file to: Abby Draper.

Attention:
Brian Alldredge, Vice Provost Academic Affairs
c/o: Abby Draper, Executive Assistant to the Vice Provost

Key Dates

Timeline:
Nominations Open	September TBA
Nominations Close	January TBA
Nominators Notified	March TBA
Deadline	January TBA

Resources

• APM 265: Presidential Chairs
• APM 230: Visiting Professors
• UCSF Presidential Chair Award Guidelines
• Budget justification guidelines
• Budget template
• Evaluation guidelines
• Policy and budget guide

Presidential Chair Award Recipients

2024-25 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipients
	Address Malata, FAAN, PhD, MSc, BSc Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) Limbe, Malawi, Republic of Africa Proposal: Planning bidirectional graduate degree programs to advance equity and understanding in global health education. View Announcement Biography (pdf)
	Theodorus Jan (Olle) ten Cate, PhD Emeritus Professor of Medicine University Medical Center Utrecht Utrecht, The Netherlands Project: Develop UCSF as a center of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) Project Summary (pdf) View Announcement Biography (pdf)
	Loic Yengo, PhD Associate Professor ARC Future Fellow Snow Medical Research Foundation Fellow Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Project: Establishing the Center for Diversity in Precision Health (CDPH): Building Research Capacity from Diverse Backgrounds while Promoting Team Science. Project Summary (pdf) View Announcement Biography (pdf)

List of Past Award Recipients

Chair Holder	Discipline	Proposal
2021-22 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD	Medicine	Engage with UCSF partners to create an equity roadmap at UCSF guided by three principles: valuing all individuals and populations equally, recognizing and rectifying historical injustices, and providing resources according to need. Identify levers for intervention within the UCSF context to dismantle racism (and other systems of structured inequity) in health science, education, academic careers, care delivery, and discovery.
2019-20 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Mauro Costa Mattioli, MS, PhD	Neuroscience	Establish Research Programs to Identify Small Molecule Activators of Translation (SMARTs) and to “treat the brain through the gut”; develop and teach an interdisciplinary lecture series covering recent discoveries that link nutrition, the microbiome, and mental health; organize an international symposium held at UCSF related to the topic of protein quality control and brain function.
2018-19 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Christine Cassel, MD, MACP	Medicine	Engaging with leadership, faculty and trainees on advancing work related to bioethics, professionalism and the role of technology for health care in an aging society.
Cees P.M. van der Vleuten, PhD	Educational Development and Research	Advance the concepts of programmatic assessment and assessment for learning at UCSF with lectures, retreats and workshops involving all schools. Implement programmatic assessments within the Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy; provide a model for the Schools of Nursing and Dentistry.
2016-17 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Rickard Brånemark, MD, PhD, MS	Orthopaedic Surgery	Establish a nationally renowned Osseointegration Center at UCSF, recognized for innovation and advancement in amputation surgery, prosthetic restoration, and rehabilitation techniques.
William J. Landis, PhD	Polymer Science	Advance research and encourage appreciation of mineral formation through programs, conferences and lectures on mineralization and its roles in human health and disease.
2015-16 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN	Physiological Nursing	Serve as a catalyst for interdisciplinary research, education and practice development at UCSF, with transitions in health and health care as the unifying theme.
2014-15 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Harvey Fineberg, MD, MPH, MPP	Medicine: Public Health	Time and research will focus on global health workforce and technology; improvement of health systems performance; precision medicine policy and economics, the role of media in shaping healthy behaviors.
2013-14 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Wylie Burke, MD, PhD	Epidemiology / Biostatistics	Establish a UCSF Center for Transdisciplinary ELSI Research in Translational Genomics (CT2G).
Daniel Le Grange, PhD, MA	Pediatrics / Psychiatry	Educate and collaborate within the UCSF community on the development of research and evidence-based clinical program focusing on the treatment of adolescents and young adults with eating disorders.
2011-12 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Maria Roberto Cilio, MD, PhD	Neurology	Program to educate the UCSF community about the importance of recognizing seizures in the newly born, the effects of those seizures on the brain, and the resulting societal burden if the injury they cause.
2008-09 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Judith Oulton, RN	Nursing	Educate, collaborate and act as a resource for faculty and trainees of all four schools within the UCSF on global health issues and global health research.
2007-08 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Bruce S. McEwen, PhD	Psychiatry	Educational programs developed in collaboration with UCSF faculty on research findings involving stress, aging, hormones, neurological systems and social environment.
2006-07 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Jaime Sepulveda Amor, MD, MPH, DSc	Global Health Sciences/ Community Health Systems	Collaborate with UCSF School of Nursing and Global Health Sciences (GHS) in tackling emerging issues in public health policy; engage with all UCSF community on global health issues.
2004-05 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Eleanor Vogt, RPh, PhD	Clinical Pharmacy	Develop systems approaches to patient and medication safety with an emphasis in community pharmacy at UCSF.
John S. Oxford, PhD	Laboratory Medicine
Michael Meaney, PhD	Psychiatry
2001-02 UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient
Christopher Dobson, FRS	Neurology