Student Awards

The History Department is proud to sponsor a variety of scholarships and academic honors to recognize exceptional students.

THE EXCELLENCE IN HISTORY AWARD:  First established in 1973, this award carries with it an inscribed Medallion and is given to an outstanding graduating senior.  In 2024, the Department began to award two students based on research conducted during the Centennial.  These two awards are named for two long-time faculty members who passed away while serving in the Department, Marius Livingston and Gary Hunter.

THE MARIUS LIVINGSTON SCHOLARSHIP:  First established in 1978, this award provides a scholarship for a returning history major who has demonstrated academic excellence.  The award is named for former faculty member Marius Livingston, who was the architect of numerous initiatives during his almost two decades on campus, including Operation Uganda (1962-1963) and the International Symposium on Terror (1976).

THE SENIOR OF DISTINCTION AWARD:  First established in 2005 by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and now overseen by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, this award honors an outstanding graduating senior.

THE JOY WILTENBURG AND SCOTT MORSCHAUSER BEST PAPER PRIZES:  In 2005, the Department established a paper prize for undergraduates. In 2021, they established a similar prize for graduate students.  Department committees, one for undergraduates and one for graduate students, separately review papers submitted to history courses in the previous year and award prizes to the most outstanding paper submitted in each case.  In 2024, the Department named the undergraduate prize after retired faculty member, Joy Wiltenburg, and the graduate prize after retired faculty member, Scott Morschauer.

THE GARY HUNTER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP:  First established in 2006, these scholarships come from funds raised in honor of Gary Hunter who passed away in 2003.  The scholarships are awarded to returning students who have demonstrated academic excellence while also surmounting a non-academic obstacle in pursuit of their education.

THE JOHN PRICE SCHOLARSHIP:  First established in 2021, this scholarship goes to a returning student displaying academic excellence while pursuing majors in both history and English, or a student pursuing either a history major or an English major.

THE VANGUARD CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION SCHOLARSHIP:  First established in 2023, this scholarship goes to a returning student displaying academic excellence and demonstrating financial need.

THE DAVID APPLEBAUM PRIZE FOR BEST NON-TRADITIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT: Begun in 2024, the prize recognizes an outstanding non-traditional research project submitted by an undergraduate major in the History Department.