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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

Andy Warhol Foundation: a grant of $100,000 to support the Williams College Museum of Art exhibit Asco: Elite of the Obscure. (June 2009)
Goldman Sachs Foundation: a grant of $7,500 to support the Williams College scholarship program. (May 2009)
Margaret A. Cargill Foundation: a grant of $50,000 to support environmental studies and sustainability. (May 2009)
New England Foundation for the Arts: a grant of $9,462 to support the residency and performance of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. (May 2009)
Charles H. Hall Foundation: a grant of $15,000 to support the Williams College Undergraduate Research Fellows Program. (April 2009)
Davis Projects for Peace: $10,000 for Henry Kernan's '09 mercury abatement project in Papua New Guinea. (April 2009)
Essel Foundation: a $100,000 grant to support the Essel Foundation Neuroscience Program. (January 2009)
Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation: a grant of $250,000 to support the Williams sustainable food and agriculture initiative. The goal of this program is to establish Williams as a leader among its peers on issues related to sustainable food and agriculture and to develop a sustainable food culture at the college. (December 2008)
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: a pledge, in the amount of $1.27 million, to help establish, and subsequently endow, a curatorial fellowship at the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA). The curatorial fellowship program has been designed to enhance the museum�s efforts to encourage faculty, from all disciplines, to make broader use of WCMA�s collection in their teaching and scholarship. The fellowship is also designed to help attract candidates from populations under-represented in the museum field. The foundation�s pledge is contingent upon the college raising an additional $1 million by December 2011. (December 2008)
Agnes M. Lindsay Trust: $10,000 for financial aid for students from rural New England. (July 2008)

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.
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 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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