Since 1888, AAUW Has Provided More Than $80 Million to 11,000 Fellows, Grantees

WASHINGTON – AAUW will award $3.2 million in 2010–11 in support of 215 scholars, research projects, and programs promoting education and equity for women and girls. Building on its rich tradition of opening the doors of higher education and opportunity to women, AAUW has provided more than $80 million to 11,000 fellows and grantees from around the globe since awarding its first fellowship in 1888.

"In these tough economic times, when many nonprofits are cutting back on giving, we are proud that we can continue our generous support of exceptional women and worthwhile projects that benefit communities locally and abroad," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. "We are equally proud of the accomplishments of our outstanding former fellowship and grant recipients, who have impacted our nation and world in remarkable ways."

Past recipients of AAUW fellowships and grants include:

•Mahzarin Banaji, Harvard psychologist whose research on unconscious bias was featured in the 2010 AAUW report Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
•Jenny Bramley, who was the first woman to receive a degree in physics from a U.S. institution and who went on to design cathode ray tubes, including those used in color televisions and early computer terminals
•Joyce Brothers, eminent psychologist
•Marie Curie, who received a $156,413 grant in 1920 to purchase one gram of radium for her experiments
•Judith Resnick, Challenger astronaut
•Susan Sontag, author, literary theorist, and political activist
This year's awardees represent an outstanding group of accomplished women scholars, researchers, and nonprofit and community leaders from more than 25 states and a dozen countries around the world.

AAUW fellowships are among the most competitive and offer one of the largest funding pools available exclusively for graduate-level women. Specifically, AAUW:

•provides vital financial support to graduate women preparing research for publication, advancing their careers, reentering the workforce, or changing careers to enhance their professional credentials and marketability in the academic world and the global workplace;
•targets funding to advanced studies in the traditionally male and higher-paying fields of science, technology, engineering, and math and supports women of color in fields in which they have traditionally been underrepresented;
•responds to the global development needs of women by awarding financial support to women from around the world to enable them to gain access to academic training and contribute to the economic and social development of their countries; and
•supports nonprofits and individuals in their efforts focused on women's and girls' educational and economic development, with a preference for STEM-related programming.
AAUW's fellowships and grants programs were highlighted on GreatNonprofits.org, which included AAUW on the 2010 Top-Rated Women's Empowerment Nonprofits List.

Longtime AAUW member Bets Brown wrote, "Just over 30 years ago, I was fortunate enough to receive from AAUW an American Fellowship for my doctoral dissertation. This grant allowed me to focus on my research without having to have a full-time job and, thus, shortened the time it took to complete my degree by one year. AAUW grants have impact. As the only woman in my graduate school class in marine sciences, I was impressed by the positive responses of professors and others when they learned of my having the AAUW grant. AAUW elevated my stature professionally."

To view the directory of fellowship and grant recipients, visit www.aauw.org/learn/fellows_directory/.

To reach an award recipient, contact AAUW at 202/728-7602 or fellowships@aauw.org. For information about sponsorship and endowments, contact development@aauw.org.

To apply, visit www.aauw.org/learn/fellowships_grants. For application questions, contact aauw@act.org.


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