Wistar establishes first endowed chair

Although the Wistar Institute is widely regarded as a world-class medical research facility, without a formal tenure process it has had trouble recruiting and retaining senior researchers. Up until now, that is. This month Wistar Director Giovanni Rovera and the Institute's board of managers announced the establishment of Wistar's first endowed faculty chair -- the Hilary Koprowski Endowed Professorship. Koprowski, for whom the professorship is named, served as Wistar's director from 1957 until 1991. He was also integral in the 1990 establishment of the Wistar Science Trust Fund which will -- together with Wistar itself -- provide the $2 million in funding for the professorship. He explained that although the funds were established in 1990, they were dispersed on an as-needed basis from year to year. "The funds were set up for Wistar-specific studies, but it recently came to our attention that they might be better used in the establishment of a chair," Koprowski said. "I'm very happy about it." According to Rovera, the professorship will serve a two-fold purpose. "It is an opportunity to honor the best director the institute has ever had," Rovera explained. "And we also hope it will serve as an example for other people to set up endowed chairs." Despite its location near the heart of Penn's campus at 36th and Spruce streets, Wistar is entirely independent of the University. It was, in fact, the first independent medical research facility in the country when it was established in 1892. The selection of the first chair holder will be made by Koprowski, Rovera and former University Vice Provost for Research Barry Cooperman, now co-chairperson of Wistar's Scientific Advisory Committee. Both Rovera and Koprowski cited "scientific excellence" and "outstanding research" as essential qualities for any prospective recipient. "We will be looking for a top quality scientist," Koprowski added. "That's really the most important thing." The selection committee will meet in the fall, according to Rovera, and will begin a screening process, looking first at current Wistar scientists. "If we find someone at Wistar, the process will be reasonably fast," he said. "If we need to do some more recruitment, I expect it will be at least a year." The professorship's endowment can be used both as a "slush fund" to supplement research funding from other agencies and as a source of salary support. "There's a good amount of flexibility for those funds," Rovera noted. "It really depends entirely on the needs of the individual." Both Rovera and Koprowski said they hoped more chairs would be established in the near future to support additional research ventures. "My objective is to set up as many chairs as possible," Rovera added. "A chair a year for the next several years would be great."

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