Charles V. Willie Minority Graduate Student Award

The Charles V. Willie Minority Graduate Student Award is an annual award given to a minority student who demonstrates exceptional scholarly promise. The 2021 recipient of this award is Karen Okigbo, City University of New York

The award was established at the 2013 meeting in honor of Dr. Charles V. Willie in recognition of his work on racial and ethnic minorities, his support of minority graduate students, and his invaluable contributions to ESS. The purpose of this award is to:

• Give recognition to minority graduate students for outstanding scholarly promise;
• Increase the number and visibility of minority voices within the organization;
• Promote the organization’s commitment to increasing the number of minority scholars within sociology;
• Reinforce the organization’s purpose of directly supporting the production, discovery, and dissemination of excellent sociological scholarship.

An award in the amount of $500 will be given to one student annually. Payment will be made at the annual meeting at which the student will be recognized as the award recipient.

Application Requirements

To be eligible, candidates must fulfill all of the following:

• Be identified as American Indian/Alaska Native, Arab American, Asian American (including South Asian American), Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino(as), or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander;
• Be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States;
• Have completed all degree requirements except for the dissertation at a university in the eastern region of the U.S.;
• Submit a completed application form, a dissertation proposal which has been approved by the department/program; curriculum vitae or resume, and a transcript;
• Submit at least two letters of support, including one from the dissertation advisor and one from another professor. (Letters should evaluate the student’s promise and attest to the quality of the dissertation project as well as the student’s progress in the program confirming completion of course work and area examinations and stating expected date of completion of the dissertation. Letters should be submitted electronically.)

Please begin the application process by visiting the online application.

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.  Additional application materials (transcript, dissertation proposal, CV or resume; and letters of support) should be submitted via email by October 15, 2021 to the Chair.