University of Arkansas raises $500,000 for geosciences doctoral fellowships

The University of Arkansas Department of Geosciences, part of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, recently raised more than $500,000 to create fellowship opportunities for geosciences doctoral candidates with assistance from a Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation Match.
 
“A fully realized doctoral program isn’t complete without competitive fellowship opportunities,” Fulbright College Dean Todd Shields said. “And a fully realized doctoral program will further strengthen the whole department by spurring growth and creating better undergraduate and graduate studies through enhanced course offerings, research opportunities and recruitment efforts for world-class scholars.”
 
The fellowships will allow the university to attract high quality doctoral candidates and furthers the departments evolution, which in the past decade has included increasing stipends for graduate students, establishing the geosciences doctoral program and creating an endowed chair of petroleum geology.
 
“Geosciences research requires rigorous observation, quantitative analysis and modeling in order to yield scientific results that are acceptable for publication in first-rate, internationally ranked journals,” Christopher Liner, chair of the Department of Geosciences, said. “Meeting this match will allow us to further enhance our research and degree programs. Great new faculty hires have already helped to further strengthen the program and it is exhilarating to see the quality and breadth of the research being conducted.”