Program Staff

Lydia L. English, Program Officer and Director
Carma Van Allen, Associate Director
Amy Obonaga, Program Assistant
Elizabeth Foley, Program Assistant

Overview

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is one of the Foundation’s premier programs and the centerpiece of the Foundation’s long-term effort to help remedy the serious shortage of faculty of color in higher education.  MMUF aims to create a legacy of qualified and gifted scholars of color who, along with others committed to eradicating racial disparities, will provide opportunities for all students to experience and learn from the perspectives of diverse faculty members. Established in 1988, MMUF works to achieve its mission by identifying and supporting students of great promise and helping them to become scholars of the highest distinction. The name of the program honors Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, the noted African-American educator, statesman, minister, and former president of Morehouse College.  Dr. Mays was a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., both of whom exemplify the character, integrity, and purposes of the Program’s mission and goals. 

The fundamental objective of MMUF is to increase the number of minority students (particularly African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans), and others with a demonstrated commitment to eradicating racial disparities, who will pursue PhDs in core fields in the arts and sciences.  The program aims to reduce over time the serious underrepresentation on the faculties of individuals from certain minority groups, as well as to address the attendant educational consequences of these disparities.

The program serves the related goals of structuring campus environments so that they will be more conducive to improved racial and ethnic relations, and of providing role models for all youth.

MMUF aims to achieve its mission by identifying and supporting students of great promise and helping them to become scholars of the highest distinction.

Current Programs

The MMUF program is administered by over one hundred campus coordinators at 34 institutions, and a consortium of 38 historically black colleges and universities within the membership of the United Negro College Fund. Selection of fellows is based on individualized assessments of each candidate’s academic promise, aspiration to pursue an academic career in Mellon-designated fields of study, and commitment to the goals of MMUF.  Five rising juniors are chosen on each campus every year, and 25 for the UNCF consortium schools.
   
As of March 2006 the MMUF program has had over 2,500 participating students; over 170 have earned their PhD and 500 are currently in graduate school; the number of participants earning PhDs each year continues to increase.

The Foundation is not currently accepting new institutions into the MMUF program. For more information please visit www.mmuf.org

Additional grantmaking activities include support for programs and initiatives that address issues of diversity in higher education.

Program Contact Information

Before writing, please review the Foundation’s general requirements for grant proposals in the Grant Inquiries section of this Web site.