Clare Boothe Luce Graduate Fellowship

With support from the Clare Boothe Luce Fund, as one of its directives, St. John's University has established the Clare Boothe Luce Fellowship to benefit recipients at the beginning of their graduate studies, when funds for independent research are rarely available. The objective of this program is to encourage women to prepare for careers in teaching and research in science and technological fields in which they have historically been underrepresented.  

Fellowship Application

Selection and Application Process

Clare Boothe Luce fellows are chosen on the basis of their demonstrated record of achievement, as well as their potential to make significant contributions when they have become established in their fields. Candidates are asked to

  • Complete an application form documenting their accomplishments
  • Submit two letters of recommendation from faculty (to be included with this application)
  • Write a statement of educational and career goals and experiences.

Who is Eligible?

Scholars must satisfy all of these criteria: 

  1. Be a doctoral candidate in Biology, or be a master’s degree candidate in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Toxicology at St. John’s University;
  2. Be a US citizen or permanent resident;
  3. Be in high academic standing as evidenced in the following:
  4. Attained a 3.5 overall grade point average, or 3.25 overall grade point average with a 3.5 grade point average in all mathematics, science, and computer science courses;
  5. In addition, you need scores of at least 150 in each of the Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning sections on the GRE examination;
  6. Scholarly promise, capacity for independent thinking and research, and potential for leadership in the subject field, as evidenced in letters of recommendation.
  7. Must not be planning a career in medicine or health

Award

The Clare Boothe Luce Fellowship provides a yearly stipend of $24,000 for Ph.D. students and $12,000 for M.S. students. The University provides an academic year tuition waiver for those holding fellowships. Ph.D. students also receive $2,000, and M.S. students $1,000 per year, in professional development funds to be used for equipment, travel, research, child care, etc. Any purchases require preapproval by the coordinators and must be made through St. John’s University. Travel must be within the United States. Pending continued outstanding achievement, the award is renewed for an additional year. 

 In accepting the award, the student agrees to

  • Write a report twice a year
  • Present at St. John’s University’s research day
  • After leaving St. John’s, give a three-year follow-up report on career and educational achievements.

 The Clare Boothe Luce Scholarship application consists of

  • An application form
  • A personal essay (see question information below)
  • Your CV or résumé
  • Your current spring schedule
  • An unofficial transcript
  • Two letters of recommendation from faculty members emailed directly to [email protected]

Personal Essay. How do your experiences and aspirations complement the purposes of the Clare Boothe Luce program? Include the following:

  • Describe your research
  • Provide examples/evidence of your commitment to research and pursuit of an academic/research career
  • Discuss what you have done and might do in the future to foster the role of women in science

This essay must consist of a minimum of one and maximum of three double-spaced pages in 12-point, Times New Roman font. Include a header with your full name and CBL Application. This must be specific, detailed, and scholarly to satisfy reviewers from your own discipline, but clear, concise, and accessible enough to be understood by reviewers outside your discipline.

 

Additional Information

Clare Boothe Luce was truly a Renaissance woman. Her remarkable career spanned seven decades and nearly as many professional interests: journalism, politics, diplomacy, and the theater. In each of those fields she excelled. In each, she broke new paths for women to follow.

Not content with her achievements, Ms. Luce was always eager to consider new topics, to test new hypotheses, and to encourage other women to achieve their own potential. Characteristically, she declined to restrict her vision to the fields in which she had established her reputation. Under the terms of her will, she chose instead to establish the legacy which is now known as the Clare Boothe Luce Fund and which will benefit current and future generations of women with talent and ambition in areas where, in our society, they continue to be underrepresented.

St. John’s University, which awarded Ms. Luce an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree in 1964, was designated in her will as one of the beneficiaries of the Clare Boothe Luce Fund. St. John’s University is one of 13 educational institutions specifically designated in Ms. Luce’s will to receive the income from an initial allocation in perpetuity.