Endowed Awards

The Graduate School has eight endowed awards which were established by donors. These awards recognize students in various disciplines with outstanding scholarships. Criteria, number of recipients, and award amount vary by award.

ETHEL M. WILSON SCHOLARSHIP

$10,000 | Graduate women students

Ethel M. Wilson, M.A. 1911, established the Ethel M. Wilson Scholarship Fund in 1974 to support the education of graduate women students at the Graduate School. Ph.D. students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University, have achieved candidacy, and have an approved dissertation proposal. The scholarship will be awarded for the most promising dissertation research conducted by graduate women students.

FAMILY S GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP

$2,000 | Autism research

Anonymous donors established the Family S Graduate Scholarship Fund in fiscal year 2018 to support deserving graduate students conducting basic research in the field of autism. Ph.D. students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University, have achieved candidacy, and have an approved dissertation proposal. The scholarship will be awarded for the most promising dissertation research related to autism.

LAI SULIN SCHOLARSHIP

$5,000 | Cancer research

Cheng Lai, M.S. 1962, Ph.D. 1966, and his wife, Yu Chen Lai, established the Lai Sulin Scholarship Fund in 2005 to support graduate students who study in an area related to cancer in the Graduate School at Vanderbilt University. Donors established this fund in memory of their daughter, Sulin. Ph.D. students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University, have achieved candidacy and have an approved dissertation proposal. The scholarship will be awarded for the most promising dissertation research related to cancer.

LOUISE A. TAYLOR SCHOLARSHIP

$2,000 | Humanities

Louise A. Taylor, M.A. 1961, established the Louise A. Taylor Scholarship in 1983 to support deserving students at the Graduate School. Ph.D. students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University, have achieved candidacy, and have an approved dissertation proposal. The scholarship will be awarded for the most promising dissertation research in the humanities.

MALCOLM, CATHERINE AND F. STANLEY JONES SCHOLARSHIP

$5,000 | Religion

Catherine Graves Neuman Jones and Malcolm D. Jones established the Malcolm, Catherine and F. Stanley Jones Scholarship in fiscal year 2023 to support deserving students studying in the Graduate Department of Religion at the Graduate School. Ph.D. students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University, have achieved candidacy, and have an approved dissertation proposal. Master’s students eligible for nomination must have successfully completed coursework and be conducting thesis research. The scholarship will be awarded for the most promising research in religion. Preference will be given to students pursuing a Ph.D.

RICHARD BENNETT/DOROTHY DANFORTH COMPTON PRIZE

$2,500 | Science and Engineering

The Danforth Foundation established the Richard Bennett/Dorothy Danforth Compton Prize in 1995 by the Danforth Foundation to support the most promising entering graduate minority student in science and engineering at Vanderbilt University. This fund was established in memory of Richard Bernard Bennett III, M.D. 1990, Ph.D. 1992. Richard Bernard Bennett III was a Dorothy Danford Compton Fellowship recipient when he was a graduate student at Vanderbilt University. Graduate students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University in the first academic year of study. The prize will be awarded for the most promising graduate minority student in science and engineering.

SMRITI BARDHAN, PH.D. SCHOLARSHIP

$2,500 | Life Sciences/Biological Sciences

Tripti Bardhan Jena and Purusottam Jena established the Smriti Bardhan, Ph.D. Scholarship in 2019 to support deserving students pursuing their Ph.D. in life sciences or bioscience at the Graduate School. The donors made this gift in memory of Smriti Bardhan, Ph.D., a former research instructor at Vanderbilt. Dr. Bardhan was born in Balasore, Odisha, India on August 16, 1940. Growing up in a family of scholars, she received her education, including a Ph.D. in genetics, in India. She was a professor of zoology in Odisha before coming to the United States in 1978. After she spent a year at Northwestern Medical School in Chicago as a visiting scholar, she moved to Nashville in 1979, which became her home for life. She continued her research in genetics, first at Meharry Medical College and then at Vanderbilt University. Her pioneering works on DNA cloning and the identification of proteins to target tumor cells were published in Nature, a leading multidisciplinary science journal. Ph.D. students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University, have achieved candidacy, and have an approved dissertation proposal. The scholarship will be awarded for the most promising dissertation research related to life sciences or biological sciences.

TARKINGTON FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP

$5,000 | Archaeology or Bioarchaeology

The $5,000 Tarkington Family Scholarship provides financial support based on need or merit for deserving students at the Graduate School. Graduate students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University. The scholarship will be awarded based on evidence for need or merit for deserving students. Preference in awarding will be for doctoral candidates or graduate students studying for a degree in archaeology or bio-archaeology.