Launched in 1924 at the University of Illinois, Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD) is an Association of College Honor Societies-certified organization that recognizes the academic achievements of first-year college students. Maria Leonard, the dean of women at the University of Illinois at the time, created the honor society to highlight academic excellence among freshman women, but it became a coeducational honor society during the 1970s in response to Title IX.
Today, ALD has more than 280 chapters in the US and has honored more than 1 million students. With support from local chapters, board members, and friends, the organization awards hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships each year. The following is a look at its scholarship and fellowship offerings.
Jo Anne J. Trow Undergraduate Scholarship
Through the Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship program, ALD awards more than $105,000 annually to 50 high-achieving undergraduate students in diverse fields of study. Scholarship recipients for 2022 include students working toward degrees in elementary education, biochemistry, nursing, computer science, and dental hygiene. ALD awards five $6,000 scholarships, 10 $3,000 scholarships, and 25 $1,000 scholarships. Local chapters select prospective scholarship recipients to compete in the ALD competition.
Chapters with more than 500 members can nominate up to four applicants. Meanwhile, chapters with 300-499 members can nominate three, and chapters with 150-299 members can nominate two. Candidates must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 to be considered.
The undergraduate scholarship was named in honor of Jo Anne J. Trow, who served as national president of ALD from 1985 to 1988. She oversaw a restructuring of the board of directors. Trow also served ALD as president-elect, secretary, and District VIII advisor. She spent 15 years in leadership roles for the organization and also served as vice president for student services at Oregon State University.
Stemler Study Abroad Scholarship
The Stemler Study Abroad Scholarship program awards scholarships between $1,000 and $2,000 to undergraduate students each year. Created at the annual meeting in 2008 in honor of Dr. James G. Stemler, ALD’s first male president, the program initially awarded 10 scholarships and has since increased to 20. A member of the board of directors for more than 14 years, Dr. Stemler also served ALD as vice president for chapter relations and expansion and spent six years as its president. He was also an active chapter advisor at the University of Portland and has been a longtime advocate for study abroad programs.
Similar to the Trow Scholarships, students must have at least a 3.5 GPA and be active members of an ALD chapter. Scholarship funds can be used toward study abroad programs ranging in length from one week to a full year as long as academic credits are awarded. Recipients of the Stemler Study Abroad Scholarship in 2022 completed studies in Italy, Germany, England, Denmark, and South Africa, among other countries.
Graduate Fellowship
Through its Graduate Fellowships program, ALD awards $76,000 in funding each year to students pursuing advanced degrees. Fellowships range from $2,000 to $7,000. Each of the 28 fellowships is named after past ALD presidents, executive directors, and advisors who contributed greatly to the organization since its inception. The sole $7,000 scholarship is named in honor of Maria Leonard, who not only founded ALD but maintained involvement in the organization well into her retirement.
The lone $5,000 scholarship, meanwhile, is named after Mary Jane Stevenson, former dean of women at Bucknell University who spent 10 years as executive director of ALD and also belonged to the Kappa Delta Pi, Psi Chi, and Mortar Board honor societies. The four $4,000 scholarships are named after ALD’s 14th president Dorothy Anderson, ninth president Dr. Margaret Berry, 13th president Betty Jo Hudson, and former executive director Barbara Quilling.
Other scholarship awards are named after past ALD leadership figures such as Dr. Glenda Earwood, Dr. Patricia A. Graham, Dr. Katherine Pedro Beardsley, Dr. Susan Melson Huffman, and Dr. Warner Moore. ALD has awarded more than 600 fellowships since 1940. Recipients of the fellowship in 2022 are enrolled in advanced degree programs such as public health, veterinary medicine, ecology/evolution, medicine, and international policy.
External Scholarships
In addition to awarding more than $200,000 in scholarships and fellowships each year, ALD provides a list of resources for students seeking additional financial aid. Its website lists more than 15 websites where ALD members can apply for scholarships. These include Fastweb, EDU Birdie, Grad School Hub, and Ivy Panda.
Other resources include scholarship databases like BigFuture – College Board Scholarship Search, College Scholarships Search Engine, and Colleges of Distinction’s Mega List of Scholarships You Should Apply For. BigFuture is a database of more than 2,200 programs that award almost $6 billion in funding per year. The College Scholarship Search Engine, meanwhile, allows students to search applicable scholarships by state, award amount, school level, gender, and ethnicity.