WASHINGTON – The Office of the Provost and the Graduate School are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019-2020 Just-Julian Graduate Research Assistantship awards. The Just-Julian Scholars were selected based on each applicant’s academic achievement, research interests, and potential in conjunction with the mentor faculty member’s research accomplishments and past mentoring success.

"The Office of the Provost is pleased to financially support the research of these excellent Just Julian Scholars, and we look forward to continuing to assist in their development as independent researchers,” says Anthony Wutoh, Ph.D., provost and chief academic officer.

Twenty students have been awarded the research assistantship out of a pool of 31 applications representing 22 graduate programs. The recipients will receive support in the form of tuition remission and a one-year $20,000 stipend to conduct research under the direction of their research mentors. This competitive assistantship is named after two renowned scholars: Dr. Ernest Everett Just, a pioneering biologist, academic and science writer, and Dr. Percy Lavon Julian, a pioneering chemist, and entrepreneur in the synthesis of medicinal drugs such as cortisone and steroids.

The award program provides graduate students with an opportunity to gain research experience and develop research skills appropriate to their respective academic fields. Recipients may either work as a research assistant with a faculty mentor or pursue an independent project under the guidance of a faculty member. The awards are also intended to serve as a bridge to additional financial assistance from external sponsors.

“This third cohort of Just-Julian scholars is as impressive as the previous two. These competitive awards challenge our brightest doctoral students to design and present research projects that speak to innovation and new knowledge production in their respective disciplines,” says Dana Williams, Ph.D., interim dean of the Graduate School. “The work they do independently and with their research mentors is critical to their future careers as change agents and scholars who will participate in transformation across the full range of fields of study.”

  

# # #

(Feature image and above: 2019-2020 Just-Julian Scholar, Jalisa Taylor, a third-year doctoral student studying microbiology and second generation Bison. Taylor is working on labs for her research on bacterial cell gene regulation at the Interdisciplinary Research Building at Howard University. – Photo courtesy of Howard University/Imani Pope-Johns)

About Howard University Graduate School

Howard University offered its first master’s degree in 1867—the same year it was established. In 1934, the Graduate School was formally established and reorganized to its current structure with divisions in the arts and humanities, biological and life sciences, engineering and physical sciences, and social sciences. The school awarded its first doctorate degree in 1958 in the field of chemistry. The school offers 24 master’s, 31 Ph.D. and 7 M.D./Ph.D. Programs. The Graduate School has consistently issued on average over 100 doctoral degrees per year for the last three years.  For more information, visit, www.gs.howard.edu 

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States.  For more information on Howard University visit www.howard.edu

Media Contact: Imani Pope-Johns, Imani.popejohns@howard.edu