Anderson Endowment Programs

The Reid and Polly Anderson Endowment was established in 1987 by Reid Anderson (class of 1938) and Polly Anderson.  The purpose of the endowment is three-fold:

1. Support research opportunities for students through the Anderson Summer Research Assistantships. 
2. Award full-tuition academic scholarships in the sciences through the Anderson Scholarship for Excellence in Science. 
3. Host a notable speaker in the sciences each year through the Reid and Polly Anderson Lecture Series.

1.  Anderson Summer Research Assistantships: 

To apply for a summer research assistantship in the sciences, a student writes a proposal to conduct a research project under the guidance of a Denison science faculty member.

• Click here for the 2013 Anderson-Bowen Guidelines [doc]
• Click here for instructions on making the coversheet for your proposal [pdf]

Recipients of an assistantship award receive a stipend ($3700 for 2013) and housing costs for 10 weeks, and a small budget for research purposes.  In recent years there have been 28-32 Anderson Research Assistantships awarded each summer.  The Anderson Research Assistantships are part of Denison's Summer Scholars Program.

Each Anderson student (and other students conducting research in the sciences) produces a poster about the research activity and presents it at the Summer Science Symposium.   For 2013, the symposium occurs on the first or second Thursday of the fall semester from 11:30-1:15 in Curtis Veggie.  Students, faculty, staff, administrators, and friends of the college are welcome to attend.

• To view images from recent Summer Science Symposiums - click here [pdf].   
• Handout of general information on creating and printing an academic poster - click here "How to Make an Academic Poster" [pdf]. 
• More detailed information on making and presenting an academic poster at Denison is given during the Poster Making 101 sessions held each summer.  Click here to view the 2011 information [pdf].
• Need to make your own academic poster?   Click here to download the template [pdf].

2.  Anderson Scholarship for Excellence in Science: 

Sophomore science majors who are very strong academically are identified and nominated by the science departments usually in January or February.  Students are invited to apply and a committee of science faculty reviews the applications (March).  Finalists are interviewed by the faculty committee, which selects the recipient for the scholarship (April).  The recipient receives a full tuition award for the junior and senior year and is guaranteed an Anderson Summer Research Assistantship for the summer after the junior year. 

3.  Reid and Polly Anderson Lecture Series: 

An annual convocation featuring a top scientist.  The Anderson’s hoped that the speaker could reach a general audience, but the Anderson Lecture is regarded as the college’s major science lecture of the year and is meant for a broad science audience.  The Anderson Lectureship rotates among departments within the Science Division.  Typically the Anderson Lecturer is on campus for 1-2 days, attends a pre-lecture dinner in his/her honor, gives the Anderson Lecture, and visits with a few classes or student groups as coordinated by the host department.

The 2012-2013 Anderson Lecture features Dr. Steven Strogatz, the Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University. Dr. Strogatz is a renowned teacher and a highly cited scholar of mathematics. His popular online column, "The Elements of Math", for the New York Times lead to the publication of a book titled "The Joy of X - A Guided Tour of Math from One to Infinity." The 2012-2013 Anderson Lecture will occur on Thursday, February 7 at 7:30 pm in the Burton Morgan Lecture Hall (BM 115). It is free and open to the public.

Future Schedule:

2012-2013  Department of Mathematics & Computer Science

2013-2014  Department of Biology

2014-2015  Department of Geosciences

2015-2016  Department of Physics & Astronomy

2016-2017  Department of Psychology

2017-2018  Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Recent Anderson Lecturers

For more information about the sciences at Denison click here.

The Anderson Endowment Programs are coordinated by Dr. Jessica Rettig (rettig@denison.edu).