Fellowships and Awards

Willig, class of 2023 from Brookline, Massachusetts, graduated with a music major and an American studies concentration. Their essay titled “Critical Fabulation for Survival: Knowledge of Pre-colonial Gender in Igbo Culture to Sustain Queer Imaginings of Care,” explores anti-queer and patriarchal violence in Nigeria and how these oppressive structures impact the nation’s citizens and members of its diaspora.

Grinnell College May 2023 graduates Daniel Rosenbloom and Dorota Ziabicka were awarded Critical Language Scholarships for summer 2023 and Pierce Fairbanks and Isabella Maloney participated in summer 2022.

During the Commencement ceremony, special recognition was given to the recipients of the prestigious President's Medal and the Andrew W. Archibald Prize, honoring the top students who exemplified outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout their time at Grinnell College.

The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship program, named after distinguished U.S. diplomat Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, offers a unique opportunity to promote positive change in the world.

Celina Karp Biniaz, class of 1952, endowed the award to support a graduating senior with two key intentions: 1) To aid students like her who had to overcome obstacles to obtain their education; and 2) To recognize and support such students who wish to pursue careers teaching young people OR working for organizations or governmental entities whose core mission focuses on the education and welfare of young people.

Xonzy Gaddis, a December 2022 graduate currently living in Washington D.C., has received the Elsie M. Stouffer Fellowship from Grinnell College. The $27,000 fellowship award is the result of a generous gift made by Elsie M. Stouffer, a member of the class of 1924.

Five recipients were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to conduct research and teach English abroad for the 2023–24 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Spindler-Krage, a political science major and policy studies concentrator from Rochester, Minnesota, seeks to combat environmental justice in Minnesota, particularly the mining proposals in Northern Minnesota that threaten Indigenous communities.   

Schaefer has been awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for 2023–2024 to explore music’s potential to inspire climate action by deepening people’s connection to nature and their communities.

Grinnell College is proud to be named one of the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2022–23 Fulbright U.S. Students.