Student Awards and Scholarship
We recognize students who will make the Emory community proud after graduation.
Like alumni, current students are doing remarkable things within our university community and beyond. The Emory Alumni Association is pleased to honor these accomplishments with five awards and one scholarship that focus on leadership, service, and academic achievement.
Scholarship
Scholarships reduce the financial burden of our students while enabling them to focus on their academic pursuits. Learn more about the Emory Alumni Board Scholarship.
Created in 2007 by the Emory Alumni Board (EAB), the Emory Alumni Board Leadership Scholarship recognizes students who are making a positive impact in the arts or sciences, academic or extracurricular pursuits, or through mentorship, social outreach, or other avenues.
The scholarship is awarded to at least one full-time undergraduate and at least one full-time graduate student. To be eligible, students must be:
- an undergraduate who has completed a minimum of two semesters at Emory or Oxford,
- an graduate student who has completed one semester at Emory before the application deadline, or
- an international students who is eligible for financial aid (international students must fill out a questionnaire in addition to the regular application).
Scholarship selection is based on a student's merit, and financial aid will be strongly considered. Please note that for scholarship eligibility applicants must be graduating from either an Emory undergraduate or graduate school after May 1, 2025. Scholarship funds may not be used retroactively.
Awards
Learn more about each award and nominate deserving students who you believe epitomize our core values and reinforce the university mission of creating, preserving, teaching, and applying knowledge in the service of humanity.
Every year, the Emory Alumni Board (EAB) and the Student Alumni Board (SAB) strive to recognize the success of outstanding students and identify emerging alumni leaders from the current senior class. These students are named the 100 Senior Honorary and they are chosen from the graduating classes of the undergraduate schools: Oxford College, Emory College, Goizueta Business School, and the School of Nursing.
The best candidates for this award:
- are deeply committed to their interests, no matter the discipline.
- have made outstanding contributions on the Emory campus through academics, athletics, leadership, volunteerism, or even personal relationships.
- love Emory, intend to stay connected, and accept the challenge to stay committed.
Because the 100 have demonstrated outstanding achievements on campus, we charge each one with acting as alumni leaders after graduation. Members of the past classes of 100 Senior Honorary mentor upcoming students, serve as admission representatives, are involved in their chapters, join host committees during reunions and serve on leadership boards.
Timeline
Nominations are open for one month starting in early October. Nominations are accepted from students, alumni, faculty, and staff, but self-nominations are not accepted.
A committee comprised of representatives from academic departments, campus life, the OAE, Student Alumni Board, and past members of the 100 Senior Honorary classes, come together to review the applications down to the most outstanding 100 senior students.
The honorees are announced in mid-December. Over the following months, the new class of 100 Senior Honorary is invited to special events, introducing them to alumni, resources, and tools that will help equip them as alumni ambassadors.
Do you have more questions about the 100 Senior Honorary? Please see our frequently asked questions.
The Herman L. Reese Community Service Award is given to students who serve Emory and make significant contributions to the Black community at Emory and greater Atlanta. Read about past recipients who have been recognized for their service.
Created in 1985 by Rosetta Gooden, a former senior associate dean of admission at Emory College, the award commemorates and honors Herman L. Reese, former director of financial aid at Emory. Reese is best remembered for his dedication to students, his commitment to providing financial assistance and vocational opportunities, and his concern for academic and personal success.
The Gay and Lesbian Alumni (GALA) Leadership Award recognizes student leadership on behalf of Emory's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) community. First awarded in 2009, the GALA Leadership Award is the brainchild of Sharon Semmens 80C 80G, Emory Alumni Board (link to EAB page) member and former GALA co-chair. Each year, the deserving student is awarded $5,000 at the Annual Pride Awards hosted by the Office of LGBT Life.
The first GALA scholarship, awarded in 2009 to Olivia Wise 10C of Lawrenceville, Georgia, was funded with cash donations rather than endowment interest. In late 2009, the fund was endowed with $100,000 in private donations, including a challenge grant by Mr. Randy New 76C 82L. As a result of the GALA Leadership Award and other efforts to support LGBT students, Emory recently received a five-star rating in the latest LGBT Friendly Campus Climate Index--the highest possible ranking and the only school in the Southeast to achieve that rank.
The Korea Alumni Chapter offers the James T. Laney Book Award. Funding for the award was created by a group of Korean alumni to support students from Korea who are pursuing their studies at Emory. The award pays tribute to James T. Laney 94H, who was dean at Candler School of Theology (1969-1977), president of Emory University (1977-1993), and US Ambassador to South Korea (1993-1996). As an ambassador, he helped defuse the nuclear crisis with North Korea in 1994. Laney's legacy includes increasing available scholarship funds to attract the best students, enhancing residence and dining facilities, providing adequate recreation facilities, and emphasizing collaboration among disciplines in order to create a richer intellectual climate. In 2009, Emory's graduate school was named the James T. Laney School for Graduate Studies.
The Emory Alumni Association will select the recipient of the Book Award, which consists of two $500 book awards. One award will be given to an undergraduate student and the other to a graduate student. The recipients for the 2014-2015 year were Haena Lee 15C and Eunil David Cho 15T.