Distinguished Chair
A Distinguished Chair position is a high honor often bestowed to deans and division directors of special merit. This is a prestigious honor that serves as a great incentive when attracting high caliber educators and researchers for leadership positions at the university. As of September 1, 2023, a $3 million gift is required to establish a Distinguished Chair endowment.
Below is the current list of endowed distinguished chairs:
| Endowed Distinguished Chair | Faculty Holder | School | Endowment Established |
| Adriana Blood Distinguished Chair in Neurology | Mya C. Schiess, MD | McGovern Medical School | 4/9/1992 |
| Albert and Margaret Alkek Distinguished Chair in Early Childhood Development | Tricia A. Zucker, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 3/24/2009 |
| Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair | Giuseppe Colasurdo, MD | Component-Wide | 10/22/1996 |
| Annie and Bob Graham Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Biology | Nami McCarty, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 4/21/2006 |
| Clare A. Glassell Distinguished Chair | Fabio Triolo, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 2/26/2018 |
| C.R. Bard, Inc./Edward J. McGuire, MD Distinguished Chair in Urology | Steven Canfield, MD | McGovern Medical School | 8/30/1996 |
| Distinguished Chair in Digital Innovation | Guo-Qiang Zhang, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 8/18/2022 |
| Distinguished Chair in Molecular Pathology | Md Amer Wahed, MD, FRCPath (UK) | McGovern Medical School | 10/8/1993 |
| Distinguished Chair in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine | Gustavo Ayala, MD | McGovern Medical School | 10/8/1993 |
| Distinguished Chair in Population Health | Linda Highfield, PhD | School of Public Health | 8/19/2022 |
| Elizabeth Morford Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology | Stephen C. Massey, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 11/1/2011 |
| George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Neurosciences | Charles S. Cox, Jr., MD | McGovern Medical School | 5/30/2003 |
| Glassell Family Distinguished Chair | Charles S. Cox, Jr., MD | McGovern Medical School | 2/26/2018 |
| Hans J. Muller-Eberhard, MD, PhD and Irma Gigli, MD Distinguished Chair in Immunology | Rick A. Wetsel, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 1/11/2001 |
| Hazim J. Safi, MD, Distinguished Chair in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery | Anthony L. Estrera, MD | McGovern Medical School | 4/6/2016 |
| Huffington Foundation Distinguished Chair in Neurology | Claudio Soto Jara, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 2/26/2018 |
| Jacobo Geissler Distinguished Chair in West Syndrome Research | Gretchen Von Allmen, MD | McGovern Medical School | 5/30/2013 |
| James D. Woods Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine | Richard W. Smalling, MD, PhD, FACC | McGovern Medical School | 10/05/2007 |
| James T. Willerson Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Research in Tribute from the Ewing Halsell Foundation | Ali J. Marian, MD | McGovern Medical School | 8/26/2003 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Jorge D. Salazar, MD | McGovern Medical School | 2/2/2016 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Sunil Krishnan, MD | McGovern Medical School | 2/2/2016 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Samden D. Lhatoo, MD | McGovern Medical School | 2/2/2016 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Bentley J. Bobrow, MD, FACEP | McGovern Medical School | 2/2/2016 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Gustavo S. Oderich, MD | McGovern Medical School | 2/2/2016 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Carmen W. Dessauer, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 11/6/2019 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Vacant | McGovern Medical School | 11/6/2019 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Vacant | McGovern Medical School | 11/6/2019 |
| John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair | Vacant | McGovern Medical School | 11/6/2019 |
| John S. Dunn Foundation Distinguished Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences | Consuelo Walss-Bass, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 2/11/2020 |
| John S. Dunn Distinguished Chair in Radiology | Susan D. John, MD | McGovern Medical School | 12/3/1987 |
| Kay and Ben Fortson Distinguished Chair in Neurodegenerative Disease Research | Xin Ge, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 2/2/2005 |
| Leah L. Lewis Distinguished Chair | Jacqueline T. Hecht, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 7/8/2014 |
| Linda and Ronny Finger Foundation Distinguished Chair in Neuroimmunologic Disorders | John D. Reveille, MD | McGovern Medical School | 9/24/2004 |
| Louisa Stude Sarofim Distinguished Chair | Vacant | McGovern Medical School | 4/4/2014 |
| Maria C. and Christopher J. Pappas Family Distinguished Chair in Nursing | Constance M. Johnson, PhD, RN, FAAN | Cizik School of Nursing | 1/24/2018 |
| Marvin E. Chernosky, MD Endowed Distinguished Chair in Dermatology | Ronald P. Rapini, MD | McGovern Medical School | 11/12/2013 |
| Mary Farish Johnston Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology | Sami S. Dahr, MD | McGovern Medical School | 4/4/2014 |
| Meg and Dick Weekley Distinguished Chair in Childhood Reading and Learning | April Crawford, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 8/31/2006 |
| Nancy and Rich Kinder Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Research | Eva M. Sevick, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 7/21/2003 |
| Nancy, Clive and Pierce Runnells Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience of the Vivian L. Smith Center for Neurologic Research | Nitin Tandon, MD | McGovern Medical School | 11/11/1997 |
| Nancy P. and Vincent F. Guinee, MD Distinguished Chair | Aanand D. Naik, MD | Component-Wide | 2/4/2015 |
| Nina and Michael Zilkha Distinguished Chair in Neurodegenerative Disease Research | Pramod Dash, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 8/04/2005 |
| Richard J. Andrassy, MD Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Surgery | Kevin P. Lally, MD | McGovern Medical School | 7/3/2014 |
| Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry | John Spudich, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 6/1/1973 |
| Roy M. and Phyllis Gough Huffington Distinguished Chair | Louise D. McCullough, MD, PhD | McGovern Medical School | 8/10/2000 |
| Stanley Family Distinguished Chair of Population Health and Community Medicine | Thomas J. Murphy, MD | McGovern Medical School | 3/21/2018 |
| Susan and Richard Anderson Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology | David A. Lee, MD, MBA | McGovern Medical School | 10/17/2016 |
| The Glassell Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Informatics Excellence | Jiajie Zhang, PhD | School of Biomedical Informatics | 8/3/2015 |
| The Jane and Robert Cizik Distinguished Chair | Diane M. Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN, APHN-BC | Cizik School of Nursing | 2/26/2018 |
| The Jane and Robert Cizik Distinguished Chair | Vacant | Cizik School of Nursing | 1/30/2020 |
| The Jane and Robert Cizik Distinguished Chair | Vacant | Cizik School of Nursing | 2/15/2021 |
| The Rockwell Distinguished Chair in Society and Health | Bijal A. Balasubramanian, MBBS, PhD | School of Public Health | 2/29/2000 |
| Weatherhead Distinguished Chair of Heart Disease (Formerly known as the Albert J. Weatherhead III Fund) | Nils P. Johnson, MD, MS | McGovern Medical School | 8/8/2002 |