Mr. Waldo W. Neikirk, who died April 2010, generously endowed funds for a new term chair. A Harvard educated financier, Mr. Neikirk was keenly interested in promoting distinguished teaching of undergraduates. He strongly advocated the importance of a broad liberal arts education and believed that the most effective means to that end was to reward “outstanding teachers”.
The Neikirk Term Chair honors a UCLA professor or associate professor with an appointment in one of the donor-identified fields—classics, comparative literature, English, European languages, history, or philosophy—who has a distinguished record of teaching for programs within the Division of Undergraduate Education (e.g. UCLA Cluster Program, Honors Collegium, Disability Studies Minor, Food Studies Minor, etc.).
The annual revenue generated by the million-dollar endowment can be used by the chair holder to support course development and a plan for invigorating innovation in undergraduate teaching. Some of this fund will also be budgeted for the chair holder’s department to cover an appropriate teaching release.
The term of the Chair will be limited to three years, and the chair holder must teach at least one course each appointment year for their affiliated Division of Undergraduate Education Program.