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Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations

Recent Grants

Grants from foundations, corporations, and government agencies support Williams' efforts to provide its students with an exceptional education. Students and faculty alike benefit from grants for scholarships, faculty research and support, equipment, innovative course development, and the construction and renovation of facilities. Here are some examples of recent and notable grants.

Recent Grants to Williams College

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: a grant of $1.25 million to support the environmental studies program. Of this total, $1 million is for a challenge to help endow an environmental studies professorship. Williams must match the Mellon Foundation's grant with an additional $2 million within three years. (June 2008)
Davis Projects for Peace: $10,000 for Katherine Krieg '08 and Anouk Dey '09's proposal to run a summer sports camp for young Iraqi refugees in Jordan. (April 2008)
Henry David Thoreau Foundation: pledged $24,800 to help students develop leadership skills in environmental issues through education and training on sustainable architecture and green building and through practical experience working with Williams staff on the development of sustainable building design and policies at the college. (January 2008)
Mr. Shelby M. C. Davis: $1 million for long-term support for the Davis United World College Scholars Program, which provides financial aid for UWC students enrolled at Williams. (December 2007)
Starr Foundation: an additional gift of $227,268 for the C.V. Starr endowed scholarship for undergraduates. (December 2007)
Andrew M. Mellon Foundation: $150,000 in a presidential discretionary grant for academic programming related to Williams' sustainability initiative. (October 2007)
Agnes M. Lindsay Trust: $10,000 for financial aid for students from rural New England. (July 2007)
Starr Foundation: $400,000 for fellowships for graduate students studying at Williams' Center for Development Economics. (June 2007)
Terra Foundation for American Art: $400,000 to support an exhibition, at the Williams College Museum of Art, of work produced in Italy by Maurice Prendergast. (May 2007)
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: a challenge grant of $1.5 million to help endow a postdoctoral teaching fellows program in the humanities. Williams must match the Mellon Foundation's grant with an additional $1.5 million by December 2010. (January 2007)

Grants at Work

In 2006, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded the college $500,000 in current funds and $2 million in endowed funds to support the cointinuing integration of emerging technologies into library services as well as into curricular and scholarly activities.
In 2006, the Hellman Family Foundation pledged $1 million to support research activities by assistant professors in the years preceding their tenure decisions. The funds are used particularly for faculty whose scholarship is in areas that do not have other sources of readily available research funding.
In 2005, the Henry Luce Foundation granted Williams $420,000 to develop environmental studies courses that use the campus and the community to study renewable energy & resource sustainability.
Since 2003, the Ford Foundation and Partners for Livable Communities have supported Professor Stephen Sheppard's research on the impact of cultural and arts organzations on community development and revitalization with grants totaling approximately $550,000. The research is conducted by the Center for Creative Community Development, which is jointly sponsored by Williams College and Mass MoCA.
In 2001, the George I. Alden Trust awarded Williams an endowment grant of $300,000 to establish the Dewey Science Equipment Repair and Replacement Fund, which provides annual support for upgrading science instrumentation.
In 1997, the Kresge Foundation awarded Williams a challenge grant of $1.5 million to help complete funding for the college's Science Center, an interdisciplinary center that houses teaching and research labs, classrooms, and the new Schow Science Library.
Since 1997, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has provided Williams with $900,000 to support the appointment of postdoctoral teaching fellows in the humanities.
In 1997, the Arnold Bernhard Foundation established the Arnold Bernhard Foundation Endowed Summer Fellows Program to provide on-going support for student research opportunities in the sciences.
Since 1991, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has granted Williams $4.7 million to support student research and curriculum and faculty development in the biological sciences.
Since 1989, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has made grants totaling more than $3 million to support the Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education, a long-range study of the impact of finances on the status of higher education and the quality of the educational experience. The project's researchers have produced over 70 working papers on topics such as: the economic structure of higher education; institutional strategies on cost, price, subsidies, financial aid, and saving; the impact of merit aid on the quality and distribution of educational opportunity; the influence of college quality on the career paths and economic status of young alumni; and how students affect and learn from each other. The project also provides students and new graduates with thesis research and internship opportunities.
In partnership with colleges across the nation, and with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Williams faculty participate in scholarly and pedagogical workshops and conferences on institutional values and change in the liberal arts education.

Recent Faculty Grants in Williams News

Please click on the links below for more information on recent faculty grants.

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