Tanner Fellowship Program

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Tanner Fellowship Program 2023-2024

The Tanner Fellowship was created by the friends and family of Tanner Cornwell to honor the memory of Tanner whose short but extraordinary life touched many people.  This award is intended to encourage students to enlarge their capacities to make a positive and creative mark on the world by enabling them to design and pursue educational experiences not otherwise available to them.  The maximum award for Tanner Fellowships is usually $2,000.

Requirements:

Fellowship activities may be carried out during the summer months, January break or an academic semester, but must be completed by March of the year following the award of the fellowship.  The project/educational experience may take place anywhere in the U.S. or abroad.  "Project/educational experience" may be thought of in very broad terms ranging from a completely independent project to a project working with a faculty mentor to an internship or some other more structured experience.  The monetary award may be used to directly support the project/educational experience (e.g. travel, lodging, etc.) or it may be used to replace summer earnings while the student pursues the particular project/educational experience. 

Tanner Fellows are expected to attend Moving-Up Day to receive the award.  In addition, Tanner Fellows give a public oral presentation in April of the year following the award of the fellowship (generally at the Festival of Science or Festival of Scholarship & Creativity) and are expected to submit a permanent record of their fellowship activities.  This record may take a form appropriate to the project/experience, e.g. a written report, photo essay, film, artist's portfolio, etc.

How to Apply:

Submit the following information by completing the Tanner Fellowship Application (Deadline for 2024:  Tuesday, February 13, 2024):

  1. A two-page proposal outlining the project/educational experience and why this particular project/experience makes sense for you.  Include a one-page, itemized estimate of the costs of the proposed project/educational experience, as well as a summary of other grants and/or fellowships through which funding is being sought for the same or related projects.  Projects that involve a travel component must include an alternative plan in case travel is not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including an adjusted itemized estimate of the costs.  This alternative plan and budget should not exceed two pages, and should be appended to the end of the main proposal.
  2. Two letters of recommendation, each from an appropriate faculty or staff member who, ideally, is familiar with what you intend to do with the fellowship.
  3. An unofficial transcript.

A committee will review these materials and interview chosen candidates in order to reach a decision.  Applicants will be notified, via email, by mid-March whether or not their fellowship application has been approved.