The position of Wales Professorship of Sanskrit in Harvard University is the first endowed chair for Sanskrit studies established in the United States.[1]
Henry Ware Wales (1818–1856; Harvard, 1838)[citation needed] by a will dated April 24, 1849, provided for the endowment of the Professorship. The chair was established on January 26, 1903 with Charles Rockwell Lanman elected as the inaugural holder of the chair on March 23, 1903. The current[when?] holder, Michael Witzel, was appointed in 1987 and is the fourth Wales professor.