Process

Nomination Process

Each school or college may submit one new or updated nomination per year. Schools with more than 100 tenured and tenure-track faculty members may submit an additional nomination for each additional 100 tenured and tenure-track faculty members.

Approximately two or three appointments will be made per year. Nomination dossiers should include a curriculum vitae, a letter from the relevant dean describing the candidate's record of achievement, its impact and the reasons this recognition is deserved, and three (3) external references.  View the 2025 Call for Nominations document‌ for details.  

Deans should email the nomination(s) to Deanna DePenti (deanna.depenti@case.edu) no later than January 10, 2025, with the subject line: Distinguished University Professor Program [school/College] Nomination

Selection Process

A five member, ad hoc committee of distinguished faculty reviews all nominations and makes recommendations to the provost and president. During the first two selection years, the committee will be comprised of current Distinguished University Professors and distinguished emeriti faculty selected by the provost and deans. Beginning in selection year three, the committee will be comprised entirely of Distinguished University Professors, again appointed by the provost and deans. In all cases, the president makes the final award and appointment with approval from the Board of Trustees.

School Processes

Case School of Engineering

Following the initial email circulated by the Provost to all faculty, Department Chairs are asked to discuss nominations at their faculty meetings and bring forward to the Dean a slate of potential candidates.  The candidate dossiers are then assembled and reviewed by an ad hoc school committee composed of Distinguished Professors of Engineering, which provides input to the Dean on the potential candidates. The Dean then selects the appropriate number of finalists to forward to the University.  The dean completes the submission by writing a recommendation letter for the candidate(s) and submits the letter for review to the university's Distinguished University Professor selection committee.

College of Arts and Sciences

After the initial email circulated by the Provost to all faculty, nominations from the College of Arts and Sciences faculty are solicited by email from the Dean’s office.  The college's nominations will be reviewed by the Committee on Appointments, which provides its evaluation to the dean. The dean will complete the submission by writing a recommendation letter for the selected candidate(s) and will forward the final recommendations to the provost for review by the Distinguished University Professor selection committee. The college may nominate up to three professors.

Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing

After the initial email circulated by the Provost to all faculty, nominations from the School of Nursing faculty are solicited by email from the Dean’s office.  Any faculty member can suggest an individual for nomination.  Nominations received are discussed among a committee of Senior Leadership.  The dean ultimately selects the person to be nominated and completes the submission by writing the recommendation letter and forwarding the materials to the Provost office for review by the Distinguished University Professor selection committee.

Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences

Upon receiving the Provost's call for nominations, it is distributed to all members of the faculty.  Faculty are advised of the selection criteria and the nominating process.  Nominations received are considered by a committee composed of Mandel School full professors.  The committee makes its recommendation to the dean of the school.  The dean assembles of the supporting materials for the nomination and completes the submission by writing a recommendation letter and submitting the letters to the university’s Distinguished University Professor selection committee.

School of Dental Medicine

After the initial email circulated by the Provost to all faculty, nominations from the School of Dental Medicine faculty are solicited by email from the Dean’s office.  Nominations are sent to the chair of the Faculty Academic Status Committee of the School of Dental Medicine and reviewed by this committee.  This committee recommends candidates be nominated and the dean ultimately selects the person. If a candidate is identified, the Dean then completes the submission by writing a recommendation letter for the candidate and submits the letter for review to the university’s Distinguished University Professor selection committee.

School of Law

After the initial email circulated by the Provost, the request for nominations for Distinguished University Professor is circulated to the entire law faculty by the deans’ office. Any faculty member may propose a candidate to the deans by sending the suggested nomination to the deans' attention, no later than the end of January.  In addition to sending the person's name to the deans, nominators are requested to include an explanation of why they believe this person meets the required attributes, as described in the Provost's email.  After January 31, an ad-hoc committee will be created by the deans to decide who, if anyone, should be nominated by the deans. The deans will review the committee's decision and submit their nomination for review by the Distinguished University Professor selection committee.

School of Medicine

After the initial email circulated by the Provost to all faculty, nominations from the School of Medicine faculty are solicited by email from the Dean’s office, with special solicitation to Chairs and Vice Deans.  The university’s criteria are emphasized in the solicitation.  Nominations, which must contain a current CV and a detailed letter of nomination, are reviewed by the Honors Committee, composed of members of the National Academies and Distinguished University Professors and the requisite number recommended for submission.  The Dean then completes the submission by writing a recommendation letter for each candidate and submits the letters to the university’s Distinguished University Professor selection committee.

Weatherhead School of Management

A committee of three professors are appointed by the dean, in consultation with the Associate Dean of Research and the Vice Dean, to form a recommendation committee.  The committee writes to all faculty seeking nominations.  Upon receiving nominations, the committee reviews and narrows the field to two candidates and prepares letters indicating their recommendations and preferred candidate.  The letter describes the reasons for their selection, including the points of distinction for the two candidates.  The dean makes the final selection for their school’s nominee and writes the recommendation letter to the university’s Distinguished University Professor selection committee.