Student Awards

Student awards are symbols of excellence and guide the way to academic and professional success. See the list of Student Awards presented by the Graduate School. 

Outstanding Graduate Student Award

The Graduate School supports students in furthering their education inside and outside of the classroom. The Graduate School’s Outstanding Doctoral Student Award recognizes three students annually who demonstrate exceptional scholarly accomplishments. The awardees will be selected from across the Colleges and Schools for their overall academic record and the outstanding quality of their research, scholarship, and/or creative expression.

  • Award Details

    Three awards are awarded each year. Each awardee will receive a $500 award and be recognized at the Graduate School’s annual Honors Banquet. Awardees' names may be listed in the Commencement Program.

  • Eligibility
    1. Any full-time Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt who demonstrates academic excellence.
    2. Students must be in the dissertation stage, past qualifying exams. A student may not win the award more than once; a student may receive both this award and a Founder’s Medalist in the same year. Previously nominated students, who were not selected for this award may be reconsidered in subsequent years, with updated nomination materials.
    3. Nominees must meet the following criteria:
      • Student must be in good academic standing.
      • Student must be in the dissertation stage and successfully completed qualifying exams.
      • Student must have demonstrated exceptional accomplishment in research, scholarship, and/or creative expression.
      • Student’s exceptional performance must be evidenced through multiple criteria including, but not limited to, GPA, publications, conference papers/presentations, grant awards, teaching excellence, thesis or dissertation quality.


    Nominations are accepted each spring from graduate faculty members.

    Award established 2023.

Endowed Awards

The Graduate School has several 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.

  • Edward Ferguson Jr. Graduate Award

    $5,000

    William Edward Ferguson, long-time Registrar for the Graduate School, established the Edward Ferguson Jr. Graduate Award in 2001 to provide topping up scholarship awards to 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 to deserving graduate students in any field who demonstrate excellence in research.

  • Ethel M. Wilson Scholarship

    $5,000 | 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. Graduate students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University. The scholarship will be awarded for the most promising research related to autism. Preference in awarding will be for doctoral candidates pursuing a Ph.D.

  • John Cheek Scholarship

    $5,000 | East Asian Studies

    Vanderbilt University established the John Cheek Scholarship in 2023 to support graduate students conducting research related to East Asian studies. Students may be from different areas, including but not limited to, history, religion, English, economics, or political science. Graduate students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University. Preference will be given to doctoral candidates pursuing a Ph.D.

  • Lai Sulin Scholarship

    $5,000 | Cancer research

    Cheng Lai, M.S. 1962, Ph.D. 1966, and his spouse, 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

    $2,500 | 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. Graduate students eligible for nomination must be enrolled full-time at Vanderbilt University. Preference in awarding will be for doctoral candidates 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 diverse graduate 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. 

  • Sidney P. Colowick Graduate Student Scholarship

    $5,000 | Harold Stirling Vanderbilt Scholar

    The Sidney P. Colowick Graduate Student Scholarship was established to provide financial support for a deserving student at the Graduate School. A student will be selected as the most outstanding candidate from among those receiving Harold Stirling Vanderbilt (HSV) Funds. The awardee will bear the title: Sidney P. Colowick Graduate Scholar and be so recorded in the Bulletin of the Graduate School and Commencement and Investiture programs. Ph.D. students eligible must be a HSV recipient.

  • 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

    $3,000 | Archaeology or Bioarchaeology

    Bruce Lee Tarkington, B.A. 1998, J.D. 2001, established the Tarkington Family Scholarship in 2018 to provide financial support 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.

Past Recipients

Provost Pathbreaking Discovery Award

This award recognizes doctoral students who exhibit exceptional academic excellence in areas such as publications, awards, patents, and other forms of national/international distinction.  Learn more about this supplement here.