The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program is part of the Higher Learning program of the Mellon Foundation. The Mellon Foundation is committed to bolstering research and academic endeavors that are aimed at shaping fuller depictions of human experience and establishing groundwork for thriving communities. For more than thirty years, the Mellon Foundation has invested in preparing undergraduates to become scholars and community leaders whose work enriches our lives and deepens our understanding of humanity’s complexity. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship honors Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, a noted educator and civic leader. A scholar of religion, Mays earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1935.
At the core of the MMUF are three key components: research development, mentoring, and cohort-effect and community building. The MMUF is, first and foremost, a research development program. It is dedicated to preparing scholars committed to enriching society through their teaching, research, and leadership in the arts, humanities, and humanistic social sciences. Once admitted to the MMUF, students are mentored in multiple ways. Throughout their two-year tenure, the program supports Mellon Mays Fellows as they endeavor to build relationships with faculty and graduate students. It also hosts a bi-weekly seminar, sponsors a structured summer research development program, and offers year-round academic guidance, community-building activities, social gatherings, workshops, and occasional research roundtables.
Every year, the University of Chicago admits up to five sophomores to the MMUF. Students begin their tenure in the program in the summer that immediately follows their second year in the College.
Please visit the Mellon Foundation website to learn more about the History of MMUF