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 studies 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.
