The Leakey Foundation 2022 Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship

Joan Cogswell Donner was elected to The Leakey Foundation Board of Trustees in 1979 and received the honorary title of Life Trustee in 2007.

As an Alumna of Stephens College and Colorado College, Mrs. Cogswell Donner has been an active member of many prominent boards and committees including the Smithsonian Institutional National Board. Currently, she serves as an Emeritus Board Member of the Smithsonian Institution, and on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Mrs. Cogswell Donner also serves as a Trustee of the Draper National History Museum of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

• Table of Content
• About The Leakey Foundation
• Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship
• Aim and Benefits of Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship
• Requirements for Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About The Leakey Foundation

Dr. Louis S. B. Leakey was one of the 20th century’s great anthropologists and a tireless promoter of science education and public outreach. During Dr. Leakey’s travels to the United States in the 1960s to lecture and raise money for his research, he met a group of enthusiastic individuals who were curious about human origins and evolution. Inspired by Dr. Leakey and his ideas, they started a collective to promote a multidisciplinary approach to human origins research. In 1968, they formed The Leakey Foundation to support Louis and Mary Leakey’s fieldwork and the groundbreaking research ... continue reading

Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship

Aim and Benefits of Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship

This scholarship provides up to $2,000 towards field school tuition for students who are from countries with limited resources to support training in fieldwork related to human origins research.

Requirements for Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship Qualification

Recipients must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program in a country where there are limited resources for academic development. Students from these countries may be enrolled in a university undergraduate or graduate program outside their home country as well.

A qualified field school is a program established and affiliated with a university to offer hands-on training and education in the techniques of archaeology, paleoanthropology, and primatology. Examples of training include but are not limited to:

• Field methods in primatology
• Field methods in archaeology and paleoanthropology

Application Deadline

How to Apply

The application must be submitted by the director of the field school (Host Sponsor). It is not submitted by the student.

To apply, we ask that you submit the following via email to [email protected] with the subject “Field School Scholarship” as a single page PDF on official letterhead. We will then supply a link to complete the application. 

1. Please describe the training program for the Donner scholar. This should include what opportunities are there for Donner scholars to engage with international participants.
2. Please describe why this student would be a good choice for attending the field school, including current studies, future plans, etc. If you are requesting funds for more than one student, you may include all students in this document.
3. What is total cost of tuition? What does it cover? What are the additional expenses related to attendance of the field school? What are other sources of financial support? 

If you have questions about the Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship, please contact us at [email protected]

For more details, visit The Leakey Foundation website.