Students and recent graduates from Arts & Sciences have made an impressive showing in their annual quest for prestigious national scholarships and fellowships, including four recipients of the 2003 Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships in Humanistic Studies.
“It’s an honor for any institution to place a student in the Mellon program, and getting four of these awards in one year is fairly amazing,” said Dirk M. Killen, Ph.D., assistant dean, academic coordinator and fellowships adviser in Arts & Sciences.
The Mellon fellowship is a competitive award that helps promising first-year doctoral students prepare for careers of teaching and scholarship in humanistic disciplines. It covers tuition and fees in first year of graduate study and includes a stipend of $17,500.
The University’s Mellon recipients are William Bulman, a 2002 graduate continuing advanced studies in history; and three former or current students who are pursuing doctorates in English literature — Miles Grier, Class of 2000, Ian Cornelius, Class of 2002, and Garth Greenwell, who will receive a master of fine arts degree today.
Killen credited the high number of recipients to Miriam L. Bailin, Ph.D., associate professor of English in Arts & Sciences and the University’s faculty coordinator for the Mellon program.
Other students receiving prominent academic awards for 2003 include:
• Justin B. Cox, a junior majoring in political science and philosophy, both in Arts & Sciences, is one of 21 students nationwide selected for the $32,000 Beinecke Memorial Scholarship for graduate study.
• Bethany L. Ehlmann, a junior in Arts & Sciences, won the Morris K. Udall Scholarship. Udall scholarships support students committed to environmental fields and Native American students with interest in health care and tribal policy.
• Seth Garz, Class of 2002, was named a junior fellow in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace program. He learned of his award while doing research on environmental development in China through the Fulbright program. The Carnegie endowment, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations, selects about 10 junior fellows each year to work with its senior researchers.
The University also had two students selected as 2003 recipients of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. The scholarship, which supports outstanding students pursuing careers in mathematics, science and engineering, covers up to $7,500 annually toward tuition, fees and books in their junior or senior year.
The University’s Goldwater winners are junior Craig H. Mermel, a biochemistry and mathematics major who plans to conduct medical research after earning a doctorate in computational molecular biology; and sophomore James S. Prell, a chemistry and mathematics major who plans to explore new pathways for synthesis after earning a doctorate in physical organic chemistry.
“The Goldwater is generally considered to be, if not the most prestigious, then certainly one of the most prestigious awards for undergraduates planning careers in the sciences, engineering or math,” Killen said. “We had four Goldwaters last year, and I’m just delighted to have two more this year.”