The inaugural awards ceremony for the UC Davis Provost's Fellowships in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, a new major fellowship initiative that supports UC Davis Ph.D. and M.F.A. students, took place on November 15, 2012 in the UC Davis Student Community Center.

The event opened with remarks from Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter and Graduate Studies Dean Jeffery C. Gibeling, who welcomed this first group of fellowship winners.

Thanks to the Provost's Fellowship, each year 50 graduate students are awarded a $25,000 stipend plus remission of tuition and fees for the year. The awards from the Provost’s Fellowship are funded by campus by funding of $2 million allocated by the Provost. "The financial support supplied by the fellowships will allow awardees to focus on their graduate coursework and research, and less on generating other income," said Provost Hexter.

Fellowship recipients include both first year students and dissertation year students. Dissertation students winning the fellowship are chosen based on their academic performance, with the top nominees from each college awarded.

First year graduate students are chosen by the participating programs, each of which was allocated a certain number of awards to make. The fellowship is used as a recruiting tool to draw top prospective graduate students from around the globe into their respective programs.

"The Provost's Fellowships represent an important step in improving the competitiveness of UC Davis to attract the very best graduate students," says Dean Gibeling. "These fellowships are already having a significant positive impact on the quality of graduate education in the arts, humanities and social sciences. In turn, this investment will enhance the overall quality and excellence of UC Davis by strengthening graduate education."

During the awards ceremony, fellowship recipients were honored and presented by their respective college deans. Several first year and dissertation year students gave testimonials, sharing their personal backgrounds and describing how the Provost's Fellowship will benefit their graduate education experience and lives.