Morgan State University is launching three new endowed research professorships in its quest to be a world-class research university.
The endowed professorships — the first in the historically Black university's 154-year history — will be funded with $3 million received from the Maryland Department of Commerce's Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative. They include the Endowed Chair in Brain Science, the Endowed Chair in Psychometrics and Predictive Analytics and the Eugene M. DeLoatch Endowed Chair in Cybersecurity Engineering. The state's E-Nnovation initiative encourages private donations to universities for research in science and technology.
Morgan officials said the university received the highest amount of funding during this grant award period and was the only HBCU (historically Black college and university) to be awarded the money.
Morgan was one of eight Maryland-based colleges and universities that combined with the state grants to provide a total of $21.2 million for the endowment of 12 new research professorships. The schools raised more than $10.6 million in private funding for the chairs. In turn, the Maryland Department of Commerce approved matching grants of $10.6 million.
The Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative was created by the Maryland General Assembly during the 2014 legislative session and has provided $64.9 million in funding to leverage $71.2 million in private donations. The money can be used to pay salaries of newly endowed department chairs, staff and support personnel in designated scientific and technical fields of study; to fund related research fellowships for graduate and undergraduate students; and to purchase lab equipment and other basic infrastructure and equipment.
Morgan is matching the $3 million in funding from the E-Nnovation program funding with another $3 million earmarked from funds received from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the former Amazon executive and ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Each endowed professorship will rise to $2 million with the matching funds.
"This is a significant first for our university, placing us in an advantageous position not only to build for our future but to ensure there is a future for others, and we’re excited about all of the possibilities that await," President David Wilson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Wilson said the school will be able to recruit the "world's best researchers and academic minds" to campus to become more competitive in these emerging research areas.
