Six Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) students have been selected to participate in the Florida Education Fund (FEF) McKnight Dissertation Fellowship and McKnight Doctoral Fellowship programs.
The 2015-2016 Dissertation Fellowship recipients include Felicia Williams, whose area of focus is educational leadership, as well as Jason Caldwell and Krystal Pree, whose areas of focus are in the environmental sciences.
This fellowship provides one year of financial support by way of a stipend for up to $12,000 for students completing their dissertation in STEM disciplines. Awardees demonstrate superior academic achievement and are committed to careers in teaching and research at the university or college level.
FAMU students Niya King and Brandon Moton were both selected to participate in the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program. King is pursuing a doctoral degree in civil engineering, and Moton is pursuing a Doctor of Public Health degree. Kimberly Barber, who is pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in pharmaceutical sciences with an emphasis in medicinal chemistry, was named an Affiliate McKnight Doctoral Fellow.
The Doctoral Fellowships provide full tuition or up to $5,000 per year to awardees, and an annual stipend of $12,000 for students pursuing doctoral degrees in the fields of arts and sciences, business, engineering, visual and performance arts, health sciences, and nursing at one of nine approved Florida universities.
The program is designed to address the underrepresentation of African-American and Hispanic faculty at colleges and universities in Florida by increasing the number of minorities with doctoral degrees to ensure greater eligibility for teaching at the college and university levels.
Since its establishment in 1984, the FEF has awarded more than 750 fellowships to African-American and Hispanic students pursuing doctoral degrees. The program boasts a nearly 80 percent retention rate with more than 300 fellows graduating in an average completion time of 5.5 years.