Service is an important part of each Wayne State University faculty member’s responsibilities and often includes service to the university community within and beyond the disciplinary bounds of a faculty member’s tenure home, often including significant service to the broader community, state or nation. To recognize exemplary service, a new faculty classification of Distinguished Service Professor was established. This classification is to be used in rare instances to designate senior members of the university faculty who have made extraordinary contributions to the university outside their own disciplines or who, by unusual service outside of the university, have brought great honor and recognition to the institution. The title of Distinguished Service Professor is bestowed upon the recipient by the president of the university upon the advice of the provost.  (See Board of Governor's statute 2.51.02)

Submit a Nomination

Nominations for Distinguished Service Professors are due to the Provost Office every January. 

Each nomination should include a detailed letter of support for the nominee setting out the significant areas of the nominee's service to the University, the community and beyond. The letter should be accompanied by the nominee's curriculum vitae. In appropriate cases, additional letters of support from other faculty, academic leaders, or community organizations may be included.

Nominations will be considered by a Distinguished Service Professor Selection Review Committee for recommendation to the Provost on appropriate action. The Committee will be comprised of two representatives from the Provost's Office and three representatives from the Academic Senate Policy Committee.

Questions regarding Distinguished Service Professors should be forwarded to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development.

The following faculty have been appointed to the rank of Distinguished Service Professor

2023

Jorge Chinea, PhD
Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies and Department of History, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Walter Edwards, PhD
Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

2021

John Mogk, JD
Law School

Michele Ronnick, PhD
Department of Classical Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Andrea Sankar, PhD
Department of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

2020

Marc Kruman, PhD
Department of History, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Daphne Ntiri, PhD
Department of African American Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Frederic Pearson, PhD
Department of Political Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

2019

Herman Gray, MD
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine

Loraleigh Keashly, PhD
Department of Communication, College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts

Peter Lichtenberg, PhD
Institute of Gerontology and Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Kameshwari Pothukuchi, PhD
Department of Urban Studies and Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

William Volz, JD, PhD
Department of Accounting, Mike Ilitch School of Business