Dunavant Professorships are endowed by a generous gift from William Dunavant. The College of Arts and Sciences awards one to four professorships annually. Awardees receive $5,000 per year for three years to support their research programs. Since 1999, more than thirty Dunavant Professorships have been awarded.

Recipients of the Dunavant Professorships are Dr. Ruthbeth Finerman, Department of Anthropology, Dr. Gene Plunka, Department of English, and Dr. Xiangen Hu, Department of Psychology.

Dr. Finerman received her PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1985. She specializes in research and teaching in applied medical anthropology, focusing on family health and caregiving, international health services delivery, medical choice and change, human sexuality and childbirth, ethnomedicine, and mental health.

She was a Fulbright Scholar in 1999 and has received The University of Memphis Outstanding Young Researcher Award, the University of Memphis Distinguished Teaching Award, the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Thomas Briggs Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Xiangen Hu is a professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Memphis. Dr. Hu received his Master (applied mathematics) from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1985, Master (Social Sciences) in 1991 and Ph.D. (Cognitive Sciences) in 1993 from the University of California, Irvine. He joined the University of Memphis in 1993. Dr. Hu's primary research areas include Mathematical Psychology, Research Design and Statistics, and Cognitive Psychology.

More specific research interests include General Processing Tree (GPT) models, categorical data analysis, knowledge representation, computerized tutoring, and advanced distributed learning.

Dr. Gene A. Plunka received his Ph.D. in comparative literature from The University of Maryland, where he specialized in modern and contemporary drama.

He has published seven books and forty-five articles in his areas of interest: modern drama and technical writing. Dr. Plunka also worked in private industry for five years as a technical writer and editor.