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Wednesday, April 21, 2004
WRITER: Cynthia C. Hoke, 706-542-8083, cchoke@uga.edu
CONTACT: Else Jorgensen, 706-542-1651, ejorgen@uga.edu
UGA STUDENTS AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS MELLON FELLOWSHIPS
ATHENS, Ga. – A University of Georgia Honors graduate and an
Honors student are recipients of the prestigious Andrew W. Mellon
Fellowship, the highest award given in the humanities.
Robin McGill, a 2003 Honors graduate in the classics and Rachel Wahlig,
an Honors student in history, are two of only about 85 students to
receive this year’s fellowships, which are designed to support
exceptionally promising students as they pursue advanced study in
the disciplines of the humanities.
“This is further indication that good things happen when you
put excellent students with excellent faculty in an excellent learning
environment,” said President Michael F. Adams. “We are
extremely proud of these students for their accomplishments.”
McGill, who is pursuing a one-year Masters of Letters (M.Litt.) in
Latin and at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, will use the
fellowship for her first year of graduate study in the Ph.D. program
at Brown University in the fall. Her research examines ancient philosophy
and Greek theories about rhetoric.
“I am very excited and honored to have been awarded the Mellon
Fellowship and to be considered alongside so many talented aspiring
scholars,” said McGill. “I think this award also says
a lot about the breadth of opportunities and training I had at the
University of Georgia, especially within the classics department,
the Honors Program and the Foundation Fellowship.”
Rachel Wahlig, who is also excited about the fellowship, said, “With
the Mellon’s support, I can focus on the academic opportunities
of graduate study without worrying about the financial aspects. My
thanks to Dr. Joshua Cole and Else Jorgensen, who encouraged me to
apply for this award, and to my outstanding faculty recommenders.”
Wahlig, a Bernard Ramsey Honors Scholar who is planning to graduate
with an A.B. in history in May 2004, will use the Mellon Fellowship
at Northwestern University next year, where she will work on a Ph.D.
in Russian history.
"The extraordinary accomplishments of these two students reflects
very well on the Honors Program and the University of Georgia,” said
Jere Morehead, associate provost and director of the Honors Program. “I
have every confidence that they will have very distinguished careers
in academe and beyond."
Else Jorgensen, scholarship coordinator agreed. “In the past
two years students from the University of Georgia have garnered every
major scholarship in national competition: one Rhodes, one Gates Cambridge,
two British Marshalls, two Mellons, three Trumans, five Goldwaters,
one Udall and nine Fulbrights,” said Jorgensen. “It is
safe to say that this record places us among the top institutions
of higher education in the United States.”
Mellon Fellows may take their awards to any accredited graduate program
in the United States or Canada. The fellowship covers full graduate
tuition and required fees for the first year of graduate study and
includes a one-year stipend of $17,500. Former Mellon Fellows are
now professors and scholars at some of the nation’s top colleges
and universities.
With the awards to McGill and Wahlig, UGA now has four Mellon Fellows.
Stephen J. Tate – a Foundation Fellow who graduated with an
A.B. in Asian studies and religion in May 1996, received an M.A. in
Chinese literature from Indiana University and a J.D. from Harvard
Law School in 2000 – was named a Mellon Fellow in 1996. He is
currently an attorney with the law firm of Ropes & Gray in Boston,
Mass. Howard J. Keeley, who graduated with an A.B. in English in August
1997, received the Mellon Fellowship that year to study at Princeton
University.
News Bureau
University of Georgia News Service
A201 Stegeman Coliseum
Athens, GA 30602-4371
706/542-8083 (voice) 706/542-3939 (fax)
www.uga.edu/news * uganews@uga.edu
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