<< back to Degree Programs & Courses
<< back to Alumni/Alumnae & Friends

Scholarships for Undergraduate Geological Sciences Majors

Alumni are very loyal to our department and have set up a number of endowments that we use to provide scholarships to our talented undergraduate majors. Scholarships for current declared majors range from $300 to $3000 per year and are renewable based on maintaining a GPA of at least 3.0 at MU.

We also offer scholarships to incoming freshmen who major in the Geological Sciences. The amount of the awards varies, dependent on GPA, class rank and ACT/SAT scores. To be eligible to receive a scholarship, students must formally declare Geological Sciences as a major and enroll in geological sciences courses each semester.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships

The department currently sponsors 13.5 teaching assistantships, which are the principal form of financial support for graduate students. A nine-month teaching assistantship will typically pay $15,000 to an incoming Masters student and $17,000 to an incoming PhD student for the 2007-2008 academic year. These totals include funds from departmental scholarships. A waiver of out-of-state and in-state educational fees is also granted. The present workload for teaching assistants is three introductory geology laboratories per week plus attendance at the relevant lectures. All TAs are given office space within the building.

Superior applicants will be encouraged to apply for multiyear University Fellowships. Graduate students may be employed as research assistants if their thesis is part of their adviser's grant-funded research. Summer scholarships also are available.

Applying to the Graduate Program >>
 

• Application for Incoming Freshmen (pdf)
• Application for Current & Returning Students (pdf)
• Eligibility requirements
• Deadlines

Mr. & Mrs. Richard G. Boyd Endowment Fund
To provide scholarships to students enrolled in geology in the College of Arts and Science.

John F. and Mary Anne Burst Fellowship Fund in Industrial Minerals
To provide an award to graduate students in the Department of Geological Sciences for the the study of industrial minerals.

Richard P. Frey Memorial Paleontology Fund
A memorial fund to be used to add to, improve, update and/or catalog the UM-Columbia invertebrate fossil collection, and more specifically, to increase its value as a teaching and research collection.

Leonard D. Harris Scholarship
To provide a scholarship fund for qualifying graduate students in the geology department at the University of Missouri. A graduate student(s) undertaking masters thesis work, or doctoral dissertation work in geology at the University of Missouri. The work must be field-based and must involve U.S. Paleozoic-age sedimentary rocks that crop out east of the Rocky Mountains.

Wallace B. Howe Fellowship in Geological Sciences
To provide an award to a graduate student in the Department of Geological Sciences who is majoring in stratigraphy and/or paleontology. If the amount available for the award exceeds the then prevailing stipend for a TA or RA, the Department may consider the excess for a separate award or reinvest the excess until the corpus generates additional awards of equal or greater value. The selected recipient must have successfully completed at least one year of their graduate work and maintained a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

Clayton H. Johnson Memorial Scholarship Fund
To aid deserving students attending the University of Missouri Department of Geology's summer field course at Camp Branson. Fund established in memory of Clayton H. Johnson.

Hal and Ruth Johnson Fellowship Fund
To provide annual fellowship awards to graduate students in the Department of Geological Sciences.

Walter D. Keller Scholarship Fund
Full-time graduate students in the geology department at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Fund established in honor of Dr. Walter D. Keller, for the benefit of full-time graduate students in Geology.

Maurice G. Mehl Memorial Scholarship in Field Geology
The funds shall be used for the purpose of providing stipends for field expenses for graduate students in geology in the areas of stratigraphy and paleontology, who are of good moral character and in need of financial assistance. This fund was established in honor of Dr. Maurice G. Mehl.

James G. Mitchell Memorial Fund in Geology
The scholarship fund recipients shall be juniors majoring in geology and shall be based upon academic excellence without regard to financial need.

Ernest J. Palmer Memorial Scholarship
Undergraduates and graduate students in the fields of paleontology and systematic botany who are in need of financial assistance to complete their studies.

Mrs. Pat (Mabel E. Patterson, Mrs. John F.) Scholarship for Geology Students
One or more annual awards shall be made to full-time students enrolled in the College of Arts and Science for his/her approval by the chair of the Department of Geological Sciences, or by a committee or persons authorized to perform this function.

Raymond E. Peck Undergraduate Scholarship
Fund used to provide undergraduate and/or graduate scholarships for geology students. Up to three awards shall be granted annually, each award to be at least $1,000. If income permits, additional awards and/or larger awards may be granted. Criteria for selection shall be undergraduate and/or graduate students whose major is geology. Financial need shall not be a criterion.

Raymond E. Peck Graduate Fellowship in Geology
To provide awards to graduate students in the Department of Geological Sciences.

Edmond A. and Mary L. Raymond Scholarship in Geology
One or more annual awards shall be made to students majoring in the Geological Sciences. The selected students shall exhibit the strong academic standards reflective of the spirit in which this fund is established. Recipients are required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Selection of the recipients and other pertinent details, including number and amount of awards, shall be recommended by the Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences, upon the advice of faculty within the department, to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Carl B. Rexroad Geological Sciences Endowment Fund
First Preference shall be given for paleontologic study in Missouri and secondly outside of the State (first subpreference graduate students, second undergraduates, and third faculty). Third preference shall be given to field study "soft rock" geology in Missouri and fourthly outside of the state (first subpreference graduate students, second undergraduates, and third faculty). Fifth preference shall be to promote professional growth among students, faculty, and staff by stimulating opportunities for teaching, research, and service for the development of the Department. Selection of recipients and pertinent details, including number and amount of awards, shall be recommended by an awards committee comprised of faculty selected by the Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences, with final approval by the Dean of the College of Arts and Science. Fund established in honor of Carl B. Rexroad.

Pearl Todd Sando Perpetual Undergraduate Geology Scholarship Endowment Fund
Recipients must be declared majors in geological sciences, or must be an entering freshman who states an intent to major in geological sciences and declares a major at the earliest opportunity. First preference: Students from Dunklin county, MO; Second preference: Students from Mississippi delta country in S.E. Missouri; Third preference: Students from Missouri; Fourth preference: USA at large. Recipients must also maintain a grade point average of 3.0 (out of 4.0) and maintain continuous progress toward a degree in geology, acceptable to the chairman of the Department of Geological Sciences or lose the scholarship.

Gene W. Schmidt Undergraduate Scholarship Fund
provides scholarships to undergraduate majors in Geological Sciences.

James H. Stitt Memorial Scholarship Fund
To provide fellowship awards to graduate students in the Department of Geological Sciences. First preference: students conducting thesis research in paleontology. Second preference: students conducting research in stratigraphy. Third preference: students conducting thesis research on sedimentary rocks.

Fred Strothmann Perpetual Undergraduate Geology Scholarship Endowment Fund
Full-time students who have declared a major in geology at UM-Columbia, exclusive of hydrology and geophysics if they

• have completed a minimum of eight (8) credit hours of geological courses.
• undergraduates have at least a 3.0 GPA in geological courses and a 2.75 GPA overall.
• graduate students have a 3.2 GPA.

These minimum grade standards must be maintained in order to retain or renew this award.

W.A. Tarr Scholarship
Scholarship for the most needy and worthy student in the Department of Mineralogy and Economic Geology.

Dr. M. Ray Thomasson Graduate Fellowship Fund
provides graduate scholarships to geology students, with an emphasis in geophysics.
 

On June 1, 2005, the Geology Development Board and the Department of Geological Sciences initiated a campaign to establish the Geology Student Scholarship Fund (GSSF).

Help Us to Shape the Future
Our Department has a tradition of commitment to excellent training of students in the geological sciences. Caring faculty mentors in the classroom, the laboratory and the field have shaped our students’ lives. To continue this legacy, we ask you to share in establishing a permanently endowed fund to provide scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students.

To Attract the Finest Students
The Department seeks private gifts to raise $1 million for an endowed Geology Student Scholarship Fund to help attract the finest students. Our immediate need is scholarships for graduate students. Annually, 5 percent of the fund will be distributed to enhance stipends for students. For example, a $1 million fund will provide ten scholarships at $5,000 per student to supplement current graduate stipends.

To Compete with Peer Institutions
A department’s ability to offer competitive graduate financial support directly influences the quality of its graduate program. As a result of declining state support in recent years, the level of graduate student financial support the Department is able to offer is not on a par with competitor universities. For example, stipends for master’s and doctoral students are $3,000 to $6,000 higher per year per student at schools such as Kansas, Illinois and Indiana than at MU. This discrepancy is causing the Department to lose prospective graduate students. The Geology Student Scholarship Fund will significantly affect our ability to attract top students. We expect increases in the number and quality of our applicants, and an improved chance of getting our best applicants to come to MU.

To Partner with the MU College of Arts and Science
In tandem with our Geology Student Scholarship Fund campaign, the College of Arts and Science has committed to significantly increase the level of our graduate teaching stipends. Through this partnership, gifts to the fund will greatly affect our ability to attract quality students as well as reward the accomplishments of current graduate students. For 2005-2006, we received an 8% increase in our TA stipends. We typically receive 2%, so the initiation of our GSSF campaign has already resulted in an extra 6% in our TA budget.

How You Can Help
Alumni and friends of the Department are uniquely positioned to help an already strong department. The members of the Geology Development Board have pledged lead gifts to the fund. Now we ask for your help. Please join in strengthening the future of the Department through a gift to the Geology Student Scholarship Fund.

• Gifts of all amounts will help make a difference in the lives of our students.
• Gifts of $10,000 or more will allow donors to name individual scholarships within the fund in honor of a mentor, family member or geology friend.
• Gifts of $100,000 will produce a $5,000 scholarship for a new graduate student each year.

Assist the Next Generation
"Our Department has an excellent graduate student body that is doing top-notch research comparable to that at leading universities across the nation with whom we compete for quality students. Enhancement of student stipends will make us a more attractive choice for our best graduate student applicants. As you know, life as a graduate student is not easy. We have to teach, take classes and conduct research while living on a tight budget. In partnership with the Department, the College of Arts and Science has also begun to raise the level of support for current graduate students. We are very thankful for your support of this campaign and its impact on our own and future students’ educational experiences."

Carolina Isaza-Londoño
MS 2004 and current PhD student

Geology Student Scholarship Funds
GSSF

The following funds are used to support geology students, with the current priority graduate students:

• Dr. David K. “Dai” Davies Memorial Scholarship
• Dr. Raymond L. Ethington Geology Student Scholarship Fund
• Professor Tom Freeman Geology Student Scholarship Fund
• Glen R. Himmelberg Geology Student Scholarship Fund
• William D. Johns Geology Student Scholarship Fund
• Craig Russell Knotts Memorial Scholarship Fund
• Larry & Sherilyn Knox Geology Student Scholarship Fund
• Robert & Lisa Miles Geology Student Scholarship Fund
• David & Jennie Steyaert Geology Student Scholarship Fund
• John "Jack" W. Tlapek Geology Student Scholarship Fund
• Dr. George W. Viele Geology Student Scholarship Fund

Unrestricted Endowment Funds

Lily Marie Carter Endowed Geology Fund
Unrestricted use by the Department of Geology, College of Arts and Science.

Geology Endowment Fund
To support thesis research for geology graduate students. To provide for salary supplements for three geology faculty awarded named-professorships. To support any other teaching and research efforts.

Walter D. Keller Opportunities for Excellence Endowment in the Geological Sciences

John & Betty Marshall Opportunities for Excellence in the Department of Geological Sciences
The fund shall be used as a recurring means of support for the Department of Geological Sciences. The fund shall be used to promote professional growth by stimulating opportunities for teaching, research, and service that will elevate individual units and people to higher levels of achievement, with first priority being given to support for undergraduate students.

Gene and Thelma Schmidt Geological Sciences Endowment Fund
To provide unrestricted support of the Department of Geological Sciences.

Norman E. Smith Endowment for Opportunities for Excellence in the Department of Geological Sciences
To establish an endowed fund to provide a recurring means of support for the Department of Geological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science. The funds may be used to promote professional growth among faculty and students by stimulating opportunities in teaching, research, and service that will elevate individual units and people to higher levels of achievement. The fund shall be a catalyst that transforms a good program into a great one.

John M. Ware Memorial Geology Endowment Fund
To establish a permanent fund in memory of John M. Ware to benefit the Department of Geology at the University of Missouri.

Williamson Family Geology Endowment
To establish an endowed fund, to provide income to benefit the Department of Geology in the College of Arts and Science.

Annual Funds

Geological Sciences Development Gifts
Fund used at the discretion of the department chair.

Last Modified: spring 2008