Graduate Grants and Prizes

R. W. DAVIS TRAVEL GRANTS

The graduate program supports graduate research and conference participation through R.W. Davis Travel Grants. Awarded on a competitive basis and subject to the limits of department resources, this funding allows students to present papers at academic conferences.

The award is named for Professor Emeritus Richard W. Davis in recognition of his decades of service to Washington University's doctoral program in history.

Students may apply for a Davis Travel Grant during the academic year by submitting a one-page proposal outlining the rationale for their conference plans to the graduate committee.  During the summer, the graduate committee awards Davis Travel Grants as part of its regular package of summer support.

THE LISA GUBSER-BLAKELEY PRIZE

Lisa Gubser came to Washington University with a BA from Carleton College in 1989 to study early-modern English history with Derek Hirst.  Distinguishing herself as a student of enormous promise, she produced an exceptional dissertation prospectus and set of portfolio papers that brought her a prestigious NEH Dissertation Fellowship in 1992.

That same year she helped a fellow graduate student, Derek Blakeley, recover from a brain hemorrhage.  They married in 1993, but tragically Lisa herself passed away before the year was out.  Drawing on resources contributed by her friends, classmates, and professors, the Lisa Gubser-Blakeley Memorial Prize celebrates the promise and excellence of Lisa's work by recognizing the best seminar or portfolio paper written by a history doctoral student during the academic year with an award of $200.

SOVIAK FELLOWSHIP IN HISTORY: CHINA AND/OR JAPAN

The Soviak Fellowship is awarded to incoming Ph.D. students in History with a concentration in the history of China and/or Japan. The Soviak Fellowship, made possible by a bequest from the late historian Eugene Soviak, is part of a funding package that provides for six years of study, with two years off from Teaching Assistantship duties. In addition, the fellowship provides $2,000 for international travel for dissertation research. The department specializes in the history of early modern China and modern Japan.

Other fellowships with generous stipends are available to outstanding new students at Washington University, including the Mr. & Mrs. Spencer T. Olin Fellowship for Women in Graduate Study, and the Chancellor's Graduate Fellowship Program for students who bring diversity to the graduate program.

MR. AND MRS. SPENCER T. OLIN FELLOWSHIPS

These fellowships are awarded as a result of an annual competition open to all women who intend to commence graduate studies at Washington University the following fall.  Olin Fellowships carry stipends for four years and full tuition. Women wishing to become candidates for the Olin Fellowship competition are asked to complete a separate Olin application in addition to their application for admission.  Applicants must be graduates of a baccalaureate institution in the United States. For more information, call (314) 935-6818 or visit the Olin Fellowship website.

THE CHANCELLOR'S GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS

These fellowships are designed to facilitate training for students who will contribute to diversity in graduate education and who are interested in becoming college or university professors. Students will be selected who, in light of all pertinent qualifications, experiences and attributes, would contribute to the diversity of graduate education at Washington University. For more information, call 314-935-6821 or visit the Chancellor's Fellowship website.