Make a Difference with Graduate Support

The strength of a university department is often evaluated on the quality of its students and the research in which they are engaged. Our ability to recruit and retain the very best graduate scholars is essential to the success of Economics. Graduate fellowship support is among the highest priorities for funding in the Department as it enables us to compete with the very best universities in the Nation to recruit and retain top scholars.

This support helps exceptional students meet educational goals and research expenses while enabling them to spend the majority of their time studying and researching. This allows them to extend their research aspirations, further their education and community impact.

Help Fund Gifts for The Following

Fellowships

Our department seeks to establish annual fellowships supported by donations. This Fellowship would provide living expenses, fees,  research, and/or travel to conferences for new or continuing graduate students. Your gift will help the department retain its reputation for excellence in graduate education and insure that the next generation of students benefits from outstanding training.

Why Your Support is Crucial

Your contributions to the Graduate Fellowship Program help us:

Provide Financial Assistance: Fellowships reduce the financial burden on graduate students, allowing them to focus on their studies and research.

Encourage Innovation: By supporting ambitious projects and research, you help foster creativity and critical thinking in emerging scholars.

Promote Diversity: Your donations enable us to attract and support a diverse cohort of students, enriching our academic community and perspectives. 

Research and Travel Support

Scholarly engagement is a vital part of a student’s doctoral education, helping to establish key academic connections while advancing research objectives. Any gift will allow students to conduct experiments, purchase data, and travel to conferences to present their research papers and collaborate with peers.

Why Support Graduate Research and Travel?

Foster Innovation: Your contributions help fund groundbreaking research projects that contribute to knowledge and innovation in various fields of Economics.

Enhance Learning: Travel grants allow students to attend conferences, workshops, and field studies, providing invaluable learning experiences beyond the classroom.

Promote Collaboration: Supporting travel enables students to network with professionals and scholars, fostering collaborations that can lead to significant advancements in their research.

Established Graduate Fellowships and Awards in Economics

We are grateful for the following established named funds for graduates in our department. Additional donations to these established awards are deeply appreciated and allow us to support and honor more highly deserving students.

Fellowships

Janet A. Alpert Fellowship in Economics

This fund was established through a generous gift from Jan Alpert. Ms. Alpert graduated from UCSB with a BA in Political Science in 1968 and earned her MBA from the University of Connecticut, Stamford in 1978. She retired as President of LandAmerica Financial Group in 2004, having previously spent 20 years as a senior executive with Lawyers Title Insurance.

The fund shall support qualified graduate students in Economics, with preference for a female student to the extent possible under State and Federal law and UC policy. Selection will be made through established University policies and procedures.

Mortimer Andron Fellowship

The primary objective of the Mortimer Andron Fellowships is to attract top students to the Ph.D. program in economics. A secondary objective is to reward continuing students for outstanding achievements in the program if the fund payout allows.

Costas Graduate Fellowship

The fund shall support qualified graduate students in Economics. Selection will be made by established University policies and procedures. Payout from the fund will be used to provide fellowship support to qualified students. To the extent practicable, student recipients will be known as Costas Fellows and opportunities will be created for fellows to meet the donor.

Robert T. Deacon Graduate Fellowship

This fund will support doctoral student research on broad topics of social policy, including but not limited to, employment opportunities for the jobless and minorities; job training and job search; discrimination in the workplace; the effectiveness of our educational system; financial reform of public education; health effects of environmental pollution; health insurance and health care options; credit market access for minorities; and the effectiveness of policies to control crime.

It is anticipated that the fund will award one fellowship per year to a continuing student doing research on a suitable topic. Selection will be based on the student’s performance in the doctoral program. The amount of the award will be at the discretion of the fund administrator.

Gretler Foundation Fellowship

This fund will support summer fellowships for graduate student who are planning to be on the job market the following quarter.  This fellowships allows students time to focus on their research without the burden of summer teaching.

Keith Griffin Memorial Fund

Keith Griffin entered the Ph.D. program in Economics at UCSB in the fall of 1984. During his quarter at UCSB, Keith was diagnosed as having cancer; despite having major surgery and undergoing chemotherapy, he returned to campus in the fall of 1985. The Keith Griffin Memorial Fund has been established by his friends and family to honor Keith’s life and courage.

This award is intended for students who have completed the first year of the Ph.D. program and are not normally eligible for any non-teaching department award. It is intended to honor a continuing student who has shown outstanding dedication and perseverance in pursuing his or her studies.

Thormahlen Family Fellowship

The Thormahlen Family Fellowship fund is established through a generous gift from William and Christine Thormahlen through their donor advised fund.

The fund shall support qualified graduate students in Economics. Selection will be made by established University policies and procedures. Payout from the fund will be used to provide fellowship support to qualified students. To the extent practicable, student recipients will be known as Thormahlen Fellows and opportunities will be created for fellows to meet the Thormahlens.

White Family Graduate Fellowship

The purpose of the fund is to provide fellowship support to qualified graduate students. The fund will provide an important resource that will allow the Chairman of the Economics Department to invest in areas that are critical to graduate students’ academic experience, and to build and sustain the Department’s educational programs.

Payout from the Fund will be used to make annual fellowship awards to deserving graduate students. The department would welcome the involvement of the White Family in setting the terms and criteria for such an award and in the annual selection process. 

Dr. To-Far Wang International Fellowship

Dr. Wang and his family are generously establishing the Dr. To-Far Wang International Fellowship in the Department of Economics, within the Division of Social Sciences at UC Santa Barbara, to honor his time on campus and the indelible impact he has had on the field of economics. This fellowship will ensure that Dr. Wang's legacy at UC Santa Barbara extends beyond his research, helping to support the best and brightest young minds from across the globe in economics in perpetuity.

The Dr. To-Far Wang International Fellowship (the Fund) is to support highly promising graduate students in the Department of Economics with a preference for international students, particularly those with young families. Selection will be made by established University policies and procedures. Student recipients will be known as the Dr. To-Far Wang International Fellows and opportunities will be created for the Wang family to meet and/or hear from recipients.

Awards

Gretler Foundation

The purpose of this fund is to support graduate student travel and research support.  Students are awarded funding based upon proposals.

Richard A. Baum Graduate Prize in Economics

The Richard A. Baum Graduate Prize in Economics fund shall provide an annual prize to graduate students in the Department of Economics and will be selected by the chair.