The Indiana University Graduate School is excited to announce the recipients of various fellowships and awards which recognize students and their academic excellence.
Shanalee Gallimore, a rising fourth-year doctoral student working towards a degree in higher education and a minor in counseling psychology, is one such student. The John H. Edwards Fellowship is one of the university's most prestigious academic awards. This fellowship recognizes graduate students who display an extraordinary record of voluntary public service, exemplary character, superior scholastic ability, and intellectual capacity. Gallimore felt that the description of the Edwards Fellowship fit her perfectly.
"I applied because the description—I felt—just fit who I am as a person and what I continuously believe in," Gallimore said. "I'm big on public service and giving back to the community whether it is on a collegiate level or just in the Bloomington community in general. So when I saw this fellowship advertised, it was a perfect description of what I do. I love to volunteer. Despite being a doctoral student, that's something I always make time for."
Gallimore applied for this fellowship once before. According to her, when applying this time around, she focused more on her volunteer and service work, which includes her time tutoring at Bethel AME Church, her work with the Banneker Community Center, and her role as president of the Black Graduate Student Association.
According to Gallimore, she is thankful for the financial support this fellowship provides, which will allow her to focus her time on completing her coursework and start her dissertation research.
Gallimore's fellowship is one of several leadership and service fellowships awarded by IU. These fellowships focus on service-based accomplishments. For example, the Santosh Jain Endowed Memorial Scholarship offers financial support to a current international graduate student who has demonstrated commitment to service and education and plans to pursue a service-oriented career and demonstrates financial need. The recipient will possess a track record of service to underserved or rural communities, humanitarian causes, or educational organizations in activities that support an improvement in the lives and opportunities to those in impoverished communities.
The Wells Graduate Fellowship, named after former IU president and IU Chancellor Herman B Wells, is another leadership based fellowship available to students. Recipients must demonstrate the qualities for which Chancellor Wells was renowned: leadership abilities, academic excellence, character, social consciousness, and generosity of spirit.
This year, Nelson Zounlome, a rising sixth-year doctoral student in counseling psychology with a minor in inquiry methodology, was one of two recipients of the fellowship. His work focuses on examining the impact of intersectional oppression on groups with marginalized identities.
"I study academic persistence, mental wellness, and sexual violence prevention," Zounlome said. "And that is really to help promote holistic healing among people of color and indigenous peoples. Through my academic work, my service work, my research, my clinical work, my work, and volunteering is all wrapped up in trying to heal communities of color from different forms of oppression."
His advisor and mentor, Joel Wong, Zounlome's first made him aware of the Wells Fellowship, who thought he embodied the qualities of the fellowship, such as academic excellence and generosity of spirit quite well.
"When I looked at the application myself, I started to see that I might be indicative of what they want," Zounlome said. "Academics is very important to me, and a scholarship is important to me, but I like that the fellowship highlights service. Giving back to my community is important to me. Having a fellowship that highlights academic excellence and service is pretty unique."
Zounlome's service work includes helping to create the Black Women's Wellness and Empowerment Summit, volunteering on numerous BGSA panels regarding graduate school success and preparedness, and as a graduate mentor for the McNair Scholar's program.
Like Gallimore, Zounlome is thankful for the financial support, which will help him focus on his dissertation.
Additionally, IU offers diversity fellowships such as the Adam W. Herbert Graduate Fellowship. Named after former IU President Adam Herbert, this fellowship was created through an endowment from the President's Fund to support graduate study at Indiana University for graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Recipients must demonstrate strong academic excellence, a high potential for success, and a commitment to graduate study in the sciences.
The University Distinguished Master's Thesis Award and the University Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award both recognize truly outstanding master's thesis and Ph.D. dissertations. Award winners are selected based on such criteria as originality, documentation, significance, accuracy, organization, and style and also nominated for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS)/ProQuest Distinguished Master's Thesis Award and the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award respectively. These are merit-based awards, focus on academic excellence.
Other fellowships, such as the Irving and Shirley Brand Graduate Fellowship, are awarded to a graduate student within a specific discipline. Named after President Myles Brand's parents, Irving and Shirley Brand, this fellowship is an annual fellowship for incoming or current Bloomington graduate students in the Humanities, with preference given to students of philosophy.
For a full list of graduate awards and fellowships offered by Indiana University, please click here.
UGS Fellowship and Award recipients include:
- John H Edwards Fellowship
2020-2021
Velarie Yaa Ankrah Ansu
Health Behavior Ph.D.
Shanalee Gallimore
Higher Education Ph.D.
Cheyna Galloway
Law J.D. - Santosh Jain Endowed Memorial Scholarship
2020-2021
Nadir Hamid
Instructional System Tech Ph.D. - Irving and Shirley Brand Graduate Fellowship
2020-2021
Martina Favaretto
Philosophy Ph.D. - Adam W. Herbert Ph.D. Fellowship
2019-2023
Breanna Thomas
Health Behavior Ph.D. - GPSG Faculty Mentor Award
2019-2020
Pravina Shukla - Wells Graduate Fellowship
2020-2021
Nelson Zounlome
Counseling Psychology Ph.D.
Jelani Ince
Sociology Ph.D. - University Distinguished Master's Thesis
2019-2020
Tsun Fung Au
Geography Ph.D.
Landon Crouse
History M.A.
Kyle Haas
Electrical & Computer Engineering, M.S.
Tais Xavier Carvalho
Portuguese Ph.D. - University Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award
2019-2020
Courtney Ellison
Microbiology Ph.D.
Oliver Shao
Folklore & Ethnomusicology Ph.D.