Jefferson Scholars Endowed Professorships in Political Economy, Law, & Democracy

“This institution of my native state, the hobby of my old age, will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind to explore and to expose every subject susceptible of its contemplation.” 

– Thomas Jefferson

The College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA) invites applications and nominations for two recently established endowed professorships:  

• The Melville Foundation Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished University Professorship 
• The Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professorship in Political Economy, Law & Democracy

These Jefferson Scholars Endowed Professorships, supported by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation (JSF), represent among the highest honors conferred upon UVA faculty. UVA seeks innovative and collaborative academic leaders who are eager to consolidate and build on the University of Virginia’s premier position among American universities in research and teaching on democracy and the legal and institutional foundations of liberal societies. The endowed professors will join a community of exceptional scholars of democracy and the American political tradition, found across the University, and will benefit from UVA’s rich historical and cultural endowment.

The endowed professors will anchor a planned expansion of the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy (PCD). As a public institution founded by Thomas Jefferson, UVA has long embraced its mission of forming free and thoughtful citizen leaders through a liberal arts formation. The PCD reflects this commitment by supporting scholarship and teaching on the philosophical foundations of republican constitutionalism and liberal democratic government, as well as the development of the American political system.

Successful candidates will be eminent scholars in the humanities or social sciences with established records of excellence in research and teaching in one or more of the following areas: history of democracy; republican constitutionalism; contemporary North Atlantic democracies; and/or liberal traditions of political thought and practice. Applications and inquiries are invited from scholars who study the philosophical, legal, religious, scientific, sociological, literary, or artistic dimensions of liberal democratic government and/or American civic life. We are particularly interested in candidates who engage in public scholarship on the development of American political traditions and their future possibilities. In addition to a record of recognized excellence in research and scholarship, successful candidates will have a demonstrated commitment to undergraduate education.

John Isaacson is leading these searches with Amy Gillespie and Mindy Cimini.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer.