The Commission on Higher Education shall request state funds and establish procedures to implement a program of endowed professorships at senior public institutions of higher learning to enable the institutions to attract or retain productive faculty scholars who are making or show promise of making substantial contributions to the intellectual life of the State.

Each professorship must be supported by the income from an endowment fund created especially for that purpose. Half of the corpus of each fund must be provided by the commission through this program, and half must be provided by the institution from private funds specifically donated for this purpose.

The State Treasurer shall establish a separate fund consisting of any funds appropriated for all endowed professorships plus accrued interest received. Any amount remaining in the established fund at the end of any fiscal year must be carried forward to the next fiscal year to be used for endowed professorships. Funds in the specified amounts to support each endowment may be transferred by the commission to each eligible institution.