University of Virginia Library

Foundation Honors
University Students

Ten University students have
been selected as Woodrow Wilson
designates by the Woodrow Wilson
National Fellowship Foundation.

The designates from the
University and their major courses
of study are: Thomas C. Ball,
history, McLean, Va.; Donald C.
Bellomy, history, Virginia Beach;
David E. Carter, French,
Richmond; William P. Epes,
English, Charlottesville; Rollin D.
Larrick, linguistics, Winchester;
Thomas J. Lears, American studies,
Annapolis, Md.; Frederick C.
Meltzer, economics, Glendale, N.Y.;
Benjamin T. Peele, philosophy,
Petersburg; John H. Pruett, history,
Emporia; and Richard H. Tait,
physics, Richmond.

The ten are among 1,106 college
seniors from the United States and
Canada designated by the
foundation as among "the best
future college teachers on the
continent." In selecting the
winners, each university
participating in the competition has
a set number of nominees which is
determined by the size of the
university. Each nominee must go
through a long application process
before he is eligible for the award.

The first step for the winners in
becoming a designate was to find a
sponsor from the faculty. Each
then went through a series of
interviews, the first being held at
the University early this fall.

After filling out an application,
the prospective designates traveled
to either Washington or
Greensboro, N.C., for a second
interview with the regional
selection committee. Irby B.
Cauthen, dean of the College, serves
as chairman of the Woodrow Wilson
Fellowship Foundation here at the
University and also as regional
chairman.

The fifteen regional selection
committees then chose the
Woodrow Wilson designates.

As designates, the names of the
ten students have been sent to
graduate school deans with the
recommendation that they be
awarded financial aid to attend
graduate school. Prior to 1968, the
foundation, with financial support
from the Ford Foundation, made
direct stipends to the students
themselves to support their first
year of graduate work. Starting last
year, however, a shortage of funds
forced the foundation to merely
suggest that the colleges provide aid
to the designates.