Background: The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 by the Board of Directors of The Sperry and Hutchinson Company to honor Edwin, Frederick, and Walter Beinecke.  The Board created an endowment to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of young men and women of exceptional promise.

The Scholarship: The program seeks to encourage and enable highly motivated students to pursue opportunities available to them and to be courageous in the selection of a graduated course of study.  Since 1975 the program has selected more than 355 college juniors from 96 different schools for support during graduate study at any accredited university.  Each scholar receives $2,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school.  There are no geographic restrictions on the use of the scholarship, and recipients are allowed to supplement the award with other scholarships, assistantships and research grants.  Scholars are encouraged to begin graduated study as soon as possible following graduation from college, and must utilize all of the funding within five years of completion of undergraduate studies.

The Application: Each nomination must include the following materials: a completed Application Form; a personal statement of 1,000 words or less from the nominee describing his or her background, interests, plans for graduate study and career aspirations.  The statement should include a discussion of some experiences and ideas that have shaped those interests, plans and aspirations; three letters of recommendation from faculty members that assess the nominee's intellectual curiosity, character and potential for advanced graduate study; and other material considered directly relevant to the nominee's application.

Who Should Apply: The successful applicant must be a college junior pursuing a bachelor's degree during the 2004-2005 academic year; plan to enter a master's or doctoral program in the arts, humanities or social sciences.  (Students in the social sciences who plan to pursue graduate study in neuroscience should not apply for a Beinecke Scholarship); have a documented history of receiving need-based financial aid during his or her undergraduate years.  Primary evidence of meeting this criterion is a student's history of receiving need-based institutional, state or federal grants-in-aid.  An institutional financial aid officer will be required to complete a Financial Data Sheet certifying that the student meets this criterion.

The Process and Deadlines: The Beinecke deadline is March 1; ON-CAMPUS deadline to Office of Fellowships is Feb 1.

For More Information: Contact Dr. Ted Ogaldez for details.  You can also visit the website at http://www.beineckescholarship.org.