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CELEBRATINGEXCELLENCEGRADUATE FELLOWS

Supporting and CelebratingGraduate Student SuccessAs a premier land grant institution with global impact, graduate students are at the heart of what we do.Recruiting, retaining, and graduating the very best and brightest graduate students is a top priority and why theGraduate College provides support to students and academic programs in two ways.The first is through Graduate College fellowships and travel funding. These awards help academic programscreate competitive funding packages to attract, enroll, and retain top students. They also aid research anddegree completion by offering financial support at critical moments during a student’s course of study.The second way we help graduate students fund their education is through our external fellowship resources,including our Fellowship Finder database, proposal writing workshops, online resources, and one-on-oneproposal review. We work diligently to help graduate students secure funding from external funding sources.Illinois graduate students are highly competitive. We are proud to have over 140 graduate students holdGraduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation, one of the largest fellowship programsin the nation. We are equally proud of the many students who have won awards from myriad other fundingagencies, such as Google, Fulbright, and the Smithsonian Institution, to name only a few.You will see several award-winning graduate students and alumni on these pages. The Graduate College enjoysworking with departments to help secure financial assistance for our students, and we look forward to evengreater success in this increasingly important endeavor.Sincerely,Wojtek J. Chodzko-ZajkoDean, Graduate College

FUNDING GRADUATE EDUCATION AT ILLINOISGRADUATE COLLEGE AWARDS 3.3MDispersed in fellowships to graduate students through campuswide competitions (FY 16)486Nominations received for AY 16-17 fellowships101Fellowships and grants awarded (AY 16-17)EXTERNAL FELLOWSHIPS 2.8M Dollar value generated from winning proposals (FY 16)500 External fellowships won over the past five years1,000 Students trained annually through our grant-writing workshops1,100 Fellowships listed in our Fellowship Finder database

Gregory DamhorstThe Illinois DistinguishedFellowship allowed me toexplore multiple interestswithout having to worryabout funding. While I wasworking on HIV diagnostictechnologies and takingmedical school courses (as anMD/PhD student), I also hadthe flexibility to learn aboutglobal public health and toengage with people in otherdisciplines. That’s a part ofmy graduate education thatis priceless.Photo: Lloyd Degrane“(Medicine/Bioengineering)Illinois Distinguished Fellow

GRADUATE COLLEGE / RECRUITINGIllinois Distinguished FellowshipsThe Graduate College’s long-standing Illinois Distinguished Fellowshipprogram improves the ability of departments to recruit doctoralapplicants of the highest caliber by providing funds to match orexceed multi-year financial aid packages offered by other institutions.Recipients can be of any nationality.11awards givenacross 10 departmentsAWARD AMOUNTThis 3-year doctoral fellowship provides 25,000 per year.www.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship/competitions

Courtney Cain(History)Graduate College FellowPhoto: Brian Stauffer“The Graduate CollegeFellowship is the reasonthat I chose the Universityof Illinois for graduateschool. Funding is criticalto deciding where to go toschool, and this fellowshipguaranteed me multi-yearsupport. I was able to finishmy coursework withoutteaching and focus ondeveloping my dissertationtopic at the start of mygraduate career.

GRADUATE COLLEGE / RECRUITING & DIVERSIFYING GRADUATE EDUCATIONGraduate College FellowshipsNational data shows a widening gap between national demographicsand degree attainment for students from underrepresented racial andethnic minorities. Graduate College Fellowships provide one-, two-,and three-year awards to recruit and retain underrepresented students.28awards givenacross 20 departmentsAWARD AMOUNTSThe 1-year master’s fellowship provides 12,000.The 1- and 2-year doctoral fellowships provide 20,000 per year.The 3-year doctoral fellowships provides 25,000 per year.www.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship/competitions

Chunfeng Lin(Institute of Communications Research)Dissertation Completion Fellowship“Communication studies, by itsnature, involves collecting dataand working closely with people.Funding and discretionary timeare of paramount importancein that regard. The DissertationCompletion Fellowship freed mefrom day-to-day teaching and otherwork obligations, so I can devotemyself entirely to fieldwork andwriting.

GRADUATE COLLEGE / COMPLETIONDissertation Completion FellowshipsGraduate College Dissertation Completion Fellowships can havea profound impact on students in the final stage of their graduatestudies. By providing one year of funding, the award frees fellows fromassistantships and other such obligations, allowing them to devotethemselves full-time to the completion of the dissertation.29awards givenacross 28 departmentsAWARD AMOUNTThis 1-year fellowship provides ns

Ishva Minefee“(Business Administration)Dissertation Travel GrantThe Dissertation TravelGrant allowed me tovisit archives at TempleUniversity to obtain imagesfor a project on firms’ use ofvisual rhetoric in responseto social movementactivism. I am thankful forthe grant as it helps lay thefoundation for my researchagenda as a tenure-trackprofessor.

GRADUATE COLLEGE / TRAVELDissertation Travel andMaster’s Project Travel GrantsIt is paramount that graduate students have the opportunity to conducttheir research in the most appropriate venues. Students may need access toarchaeological sites, original manuscripts, or scientific equipment; or theymay need to be onsite to research a rare species, conduct field work, installtheir artwork, or perform.30awards givenacross 26 departmentsAWARD AMOUNTSDissertation Travel Grants provide up to 5,000.Master’s Project Travel Grants provide up to 500.www.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship/competitions

Lauren Hagler(Chemistry)Illinois Sloan Scholar“The Sloan UCEM atIllinois helped meget through my firstyear of graduateschool by providinggreat mentors andmaking more researchopportunities possible.Now, I am acting asa mentor to the nextclass and helping builda community.

ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION AND UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS / RECRUITING & DIVERSIFYING GRADUATE EDUCATIONSloan UCEM @ IllinoisThe Sloan University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) at Illinoisaims to broaden participation in advanced engineering, physical, andmathematical science careers, thereby strengthening the talent poolin these fields while increasing equitable opportunities in the US. Thecenter supports underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students,defined by Sloan as US citizens who are African American, Latina/Latino,and American Indian/Alaskan Native. 1MGrant from theAlfred P. Sloan Foundation50 Sloan UCEMscholars supportedSCHOLARSHIP AMOUNTSloan scholars receive 40,000 ( 10,000 of which must be used for professional development).Illinois Sloan Scholars receive professional development funding of 10,000 in their first year.www.grad.illinois.edu/sloan

Richard Deja(Music, PhD ‘16)Fulbright-Hays DoctoralDissertation Research AbroadFellow“Your advisor will help youwith the theoretical aspectsof your proposal, whereasthe Graduate Collegewill help you frame yourproposal appropriately fora particular grant.

HELPING STUDENTS WIN EXTERNAL FELLOWSHIPSExternal FellowshipsThe Graduate College provides services and resources to helpstudents pursue external funding. These include, FellowshipFinder, our searchable database with more than 1,000 nationalawards as well as workshops on the art of proposal writing, oneon-one proposal review, and online resources.Fellowship Findergo.grad.illinois.edu/Find-FellowshipsGrant writing e-on-one proposal mple proposals and online www.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship/external

EXTERNAL FELLOWSHIPSWhen it comes to prestigious grants and fellowships,Illinois graduate students are making their mark.Our students are winning awards from theAmerican Association of University Women,American Heart Association, Ford Foundation,Fulbright, Google, NASA, National Institutes of Health,National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution,Social Science Research Council, and many others.www.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship/external

Motahhare Eslami(Computer Science)Google US/Canada PhD Fellow“I’m beyond thrilled toreceive a Google PhDFellowship. This fellowshipnot only helps me tocontinue my researchduring the final yearsof my PhD withoutbeing concerned aboutfunding but it has alsoencouraged me to continuemy research with moremotivation, believing thathard work always pays off.Thanks, Google!

Photo: Sweet Ellie PhotographyRobin Holland(Veterinary Medical Scholars Program)NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research ServiceAward (NRSA)“Receiving the NRSA is beneficial on a number of levels.Of course, the funding itself is incredibly valuable,especially as it will apply during my remaining yearsin the veterinary program and provide me the financialsupport to participate in specialized off-campusrotations specifically related to my field of study. Butthe prestige associated with an individual NIH grant,and especially the NRSA, is an achievement that I willremember throughout my academic career.Mark Frank(East Asian Languages and Cultures)Fulbright Fellow“My Fulbright fellowship was much more thanmoney: the program offered training and assistanceduring my research year that was unparalleled by anyother fellowship program I’ve considered. The Fulbrightname opens doors too, in the US and abroad. I will bea University of Illinois alumnus first, but I’ll also be aproud Fulbright alumnus for life.

Lynette Strickland(Animal Biology)Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow“I am beyond thrilled that the Smithsonian has givenme this opportunity to purse my passions. Being ableto work with a system that I love, in one of the mostdiverse and beautiful environments in the world, isevery student’s dream, and one that not everyone hasthe opportunity to pursue. I am so grateful that I amable to work with, and be trained by, some of the besttropical biologists at one of the greatest scientificinstitutions.Bruno Azeredo(Mechanical Science and Engineering, PhD ‘17)NSF Graduate Research Fellow“I brought my NSF essay to [the Graduate College]fully written, and I thought it was perfect. [Thereviewer] sent me five pages of comments whichhelped me to revise my proposal and win the award.

See our Fellowship onal www.grad.illinois.edu grad@illinois.edu (217) 333-0035(Printed: July 2017)

school. Funding is critical to deciding where to go to school, and this fellowship guaranteed me multi-year support. I was able to finish my coursework without teaching and focus on developing my dissertation topic at the start of my graduate career. “ Photo: Brian Stauffer AWARD AMOUNTS The 1-year master’s fellowship provides 12,000. The 1- and 2-year doctoral fellowships provide 20,000 .