Graduate Teaching Fellowship Program (Donald O. Thompson Graduate Fellowship)

About this program

ASME Foundation’s Donald O. Thompson Graduate Teaching Fellowship provides $5,000 per year (renewable once, up to $10,000) to support outstanding doctoral candidates in mechanical engineering and related fields preparing for academic careers, with emphasis on women and underrepresented minorities; fellows are selected and renewed annually by the ASME Selection Committee. Applications are due February 15 (grant announcements in May; awards begin in July). Eligible applicants are U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are Ph.D. students in mechanical engineering (or related fields) with a master’s degree or passage of qualifying exams, hold ASME (or student) membership, and have a departmental commitment to a lecture‑responsibility teaching assistantship; awardees must teach at least one lecture course with full responsibility during the fellowship. Application materials required are undergraduate GPA, current CV, two faculty letters of recommendation, transcripts, and a statement of interest in an ME/MET faculty career; renewal for year two requires mid‑year and year‑end reports from both the student and the Department Head.