Selection Committee Announces Winners of Mellon Fellowships

The Faculty selection committee of the Harvard Mellon Foundation Fellowships this week announced the names of the 14 recipients of the scholarship for the next academic year.

The Harvard Mellon Fellowships, which aware $13,000 to each recipient, are granted to non-tenured faculty members of other colleges and universities who hold Ph.D. degrees and have had at least two years of post-doctoral teaching experience.

The recipients come to Harvard to teach and to do research for publication.

Richard M. Hunt, associate dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and director of the fellowship program, yesterday attributed the decline in applicants to Harvard's reputedly rigid preselection process, which he said may dissuade qualified people from applying.

"The fellowship is the Mellon Foundation's way of supporting the humanities when the job market is tight," Hunt added. "It allows winners to return to their positions with better prospects for tenure."

The number of recipients of the award has risen since the program began in 1975, when Harvard named five winners. However the number of applicants fell this year to 189, from 240 last year, Hunt said.

Harvard is one of the several universities to have a Mellon Fellowship program.

Harry T. Levin, Babitt professor of Comparative Literature and a member of the final selection committee, said yesterday members of the appropriate doctoral departments at Harvard interview and rank the candidates for the fellowship. A committee of appointed Faculty members then makes the final decision.

Robert G. Kieth, a lecturer in history at Boston University and a recipient of the award this year, said yesterday he will probably teach two courses here next year, but he plans to spend most of his time doing research.