During the past two years, the number of Iowa graduate students receiving Fulbright fellowships doubled. In 2003, more than ten Iowa graduate students received the prestigious grant.

Elizabeth Constantine, who served as director of international fellowships, played a key role in this success – via workshops and application critiques, as well as offering one-on-one counseling about international opportunities.

Iowa graduate students have internal opportunities as well, specifically grants funded by the Stanley Foundation, based in Muscatine, Iowa. The Stanley Foundation offers two-month stipends for international research, key experience that is often translated into success in national grant competitions.

Long-time Support for International Scholarship
The Graduate College has a long commitment to supporting international scholarship. In addition to supporting Fulbright applications, the Graduate College funds the T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Research Fellowship, which funds travel, and research, and may be used as a supplement to other, external grants.

The Graduate College also offers Graduate Incentive Fellowships (GIF), which reward students who win national fellowships. Through the GIF, students and their departments gain an additional 10 percent of their award in support.
“In our changing world, how can we quantify the value of international experience and research?” John Keller, Graduate College Dean, remarked. “We want to help our graduate students be competitive in the academic and professional arenas. But perhaps more importantly, we see supporting international scholarship, with the global perspective it affords, as essential to a peaceful future.”

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Joseph Henry manages recruitment of minority and underrepresented graduate students. He supports students as they investigate graduate programs and manages programs both on and off campus to promote graduate education at Iowa.

Mr. Henry holds a bachelor’s degree from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. While an undergraduate, he was president of the African and African American Student Government Association, inducted into Phi Alpha Theta International Honor Society in History and included in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. Mr. Henry began his career as a teacher in St. Louis and was awarded a Martin Luther King Fellowship for graduate school. He earned his master’s degree in African-American Studies from Boston University, and joined the University of Iowa Graduate College after serving as a Graduate Counselor and Coordinator.

Diana Bryant coordinates a range of Graduate College initiatives. Among these is counseling graduate merit fellows (as well as all graduate students) and organizing the annual new student orientation.

In addition, Ms. Bryant coordinates the Graduate College’s Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP), which pairs promising undergraduates with faculty mentors. The SROP was initiated in 1986 by Graduate College Deans, and is hosted by 15 schools within the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). It encourages talented undergraduate minority students to pursue academic careers and enhances their preparation for graduate study through intensive research experiences with faculty mentors. In 2000, the program received a prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. Since its induction, the number of minority students receiving undergraduate degrees at CIC schools has increased by half and the number of PhD recipients has increased by 54 percent.

Ms. Bryant holds a BFA in painting from the University of Iowa and was one of the founding members of Voices of Soul – a campus gospel choir founded in 1972, as well as singing in Mutha Funk, a student band. While a student, she participated in a variety of student-led causes, including efforts to improve student rights on campus. Prior to joining the Graduate College, she worked as a Graduate Counselor in Support Services.

Students find a welcome home in the offices at Room Six, Gilmore Hall, where minority and underrepresented student programs are housed as part of the Graduate College. By offering tangible support in the form of academic and funding resources, graduate students get the help they need to survive in today’s competitive academic environment. Alumni support is needed to expand and improve minority and underrepresented student Graduate College Programs. Please see page four of the newsletter for information on how to support these programs, or go to www.uifoundation.org.

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As we head into Spring, I want to take a moment to recognize and thank new donors to the Graduate College. In the fall of 2002, we initiated what will be an annual campaign: Graduate College alumni support of student fellowships. All the money raised goes directly to help current graduate fellows cover the cost of tuition, research, travel, educational expenses. Massive state cutbacks and a slow economy have made alumni support more important ever before. The Graduate College seeks to gain more self-sufficiency for our programs over the long term. We are fortunate in that we are beginning to gain support from our Graduate College alumni.

With great pleasure, I thank the following new donors for helping today’s Iowa graduate students:

Anonymous in memory of James R. Gibson
Dr. Dawn L. Edwards
Dr. Sarah K. Fields
Mr. Vaibhav A. Garde and Kalyani Garde
Dr. Joseph E. and Lori Brandt Hale
Dr. James F. Jakobsen and Jane Jakobsen
Dr. Stephen G. Kayes
Dr. John C. Keller and Gail Keller
Dr. Liskin Swint-Kruse and Dr. Joel G. Kruse
Dr. Yuming Liu
Ms. Deborah Hauser McCabe
Dr. Bryon J. Moraski
Dr. Christopher A. Najim
Dr. Beverly S. Rich

New President Takes the Helm
The university community is delighted to welcome David J. Skorton as our next president. Dr. Skorton is a well-known cardiologist who served as the vice president for research before being appointed the 19th president of the university in January.

David is a good friend and strong supporter of the Graduate College, and I look forward to working with him. He understands the importance of our diverse and energetic graduate student community, which spans “both sides of the river” – from the life sciences to the humanities to the social sciences and everything in between. I will keep you Updated on our evolving plans to find more diverse and creative ways to grow graduate education here at Iowa.

The View from Gilmore Hall
I am fast approaching my one-year anniversary as Graduate College Dean. We continue to work toward our goals: Expanding our interdisciplinary programs, growing student funding, communicating more effectively with our alumni.

On page one of this semester’s Graduate College News, we spotlight our remarkable success mentoring and otherwise preparing students for national fellowship competitions. We are delighted to see the hard work of students, faculty, and the International Programs staff paying off. You will note that one of the Fulbright Fellowship recipients is our own External Affairs Director, Leslie Roberts. She will now be leaving the Graduate College to pursue her studies in New Zealand. We thank her for all of her efforts in assisting in our communication efforts and we wish her well. Leslie, you will be missed!

If you have not already done so, please consider supporting graduate education at Iowa. We have included a mail-in form on page four of this newsletter. You can also contribute by using the University of Iowa Foundation Web page: www.uifoundation.org.

I wish you all a successful year.

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