Caroline Johnson ’26 Awarded Watson Fellowship to Travel the World While Studying the Economics of Artisanal Traditions

Caroline Johnson, a Rhodes College senior from Nashville, TN, has been selected for the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which provides a $40,000 stipend for a 12-month journey to pursue an original project on a global scale. She is one of only 40 fellows chosen nationwide for 2026. Watson Fellows have the freedom to decide where to travel and when to change course, without the need to affiliate with an academic institution or hold formal employment. The program is designed to produce a year of personal insight, perspective, and confidence.

Nasong’o Co-edits New Book on Kenya

Dr. Shadrack W. Nasong’o, professor of international studies, is co-editor of the new book The Palgrave Handbook of Kenyan History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) with Maurice N. Amutabi of Technical University of Kenya and Toyin Falola of the University of Texas at Austin.

Rhodes College Establishes New Endowment with $1 Million Gift

Rhodes College has established a $1 million endowment thanks to the generosity of Patricia and Charles Robertson, Jr. The Charles and Patricia Robertson Biology Faculty Research Fund will provide $50,000 annually to the Department of Biology to fund new and ongoing faculty-led research projects.

Henager Selected as an Associated Colleges of the South Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow

The Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) has announced that Dr. Eric Henager, associate professor of Spanish at Rhodes College, is one of 10 academic leadership fellows, following a competitive selection process among ACS member institutions. The ACS Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows program, supported by a $1.5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is aimed at providing leadership experiences to a diverse cohort of humanities faculty members, thereby expanding the demographics of academic administrations at ACS colleges and eventually beyond.

Four Rhodes College Juniors Among Competitors for 2023 Truman Scholarship

Mia-Miracle Craig, Sam Frank, Claire Kiernan, and Vaniel Simmons are competing for the 2023 Truman Scholarship, a national competitive, merit-based award offered to students who wish to attend graduate school in preparation for a career in government, the non-profit sector, or public service. It provides up to $30,000 to be applied toward graduate school.