About

History of the Program

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a nonprofit philanthropic organization founded in June of 1969. Its mission is to "aid and promote such religious, charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes as may be in the furtherance of the public welfare or tend to promote the well-doing or well-being of mankind." Established in 1988, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is committed to supporting demographic transformation in higher education and to promoting the value of multivocality in the humanities and related disciplines. Its name honors Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, the noted African American educator, statesman, minister, and former president of Morehouse College.

Founded with an initial cohort of eight member institutions, the program has grown to include forty-seven member schools and three consortia, including the UNCF consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Thus far the program has produced more than 1,100 PhDs, almost 800 of whom are currently college professors and 300 of whom have taken their humanities training into venues ranging from museums and nonprofit organizations to publishing houses and government positions. At any given time, about 800 MMUF fellows are enrolled in PhD programs, while the fellowship supports approximately 500 undergraduate students each year.

Through a pipeline process that emphasizes mentoring, research support, programming, and student cohort building, Mellon partners with member colleges and universities to identify and support students of great promise and to help them become scholars and professionals of the highest distinction.

MMUF is proud of its legacy of field-transforming scholars whose perspectives greatly enrich the experiences of their students.

MMUF at Emory University

Emory University has enjoyed 24 years of comprehensive participation in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program. From 2001 to 2008, Dr. Rudolph Byrd established the vision for the Emory MMUF Program and served as the program's coordinator, executing its mission and providing leadership for all dimensions of the program. Currently, Dr. Dianne Stewart and Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels serve as Faculty Coordinator and Co-Coordinator, respectively. Naomi Diemer is the Senior Program Coordinator alongside Dr. Calvin Warren, the Faculty Mentor for Theoretical Engagement, and Dr. Pablo Palomino, the MMUF Faculty Liaison at Emory's Oxford College.

The MMUF Program at Emory has executed its mission with important outcomes and accomplishments that bear witness to the power of the program's vision and its potential to transform the academy a few minds at a time. Emory University has hosted the annual UNCF/Mellon Summer Institute since 1994, attesting to its distinctive role as a regional leader within MMUF's national program.