Marylyn C. Grabosky Prize for Undergraduate Research Related to Education

The Committee on Education is pleased to announce the Marylyn C. Grabosky Prize for Undergraduate Research Related to Education. This prize is presented to selected current second or third-year students in the College who are writing a supervised independent research paper or a BA senior thesis related to education. It provides financial support to conduct education-related research that will result in a research paper or thesis. The research may be conducted either during the summer or during the academic year. The awards committee will consider proposals with budgets up to $3,000.

This prize is made possible by the Marylyn C. Grabosky STEM Education Initiative Fund, one of two lifetime endowments named in honor of Marylyn Grabosky (1940-2022), an alumna of the University who was a champion of women, education, and STEM education more specifically. 

Marylyn Grabosky grew up in upstate New York and earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Syracuse University in 1962. She went on to earn an M.A. in English from the University of Chicago in 1972. Marylyn quickly fell in love with the city, and Chicago became her home for over five decades.

Marylyn taught English and served as Chair of the English Department at Lincoln Way High School until 1995. She was recognized by the State of Illinois for developing groundbreaking curricula in Advanced Placement English and History and for helping to increase National Merit Finalists at Lincoln Way during her tenure. Marylyn leaves as her legacy a lifetime endowment in STEM education at Syracuse University and two lifetime endowments at the University of Chicago, one of which makes possible the Grabosky Prize for Undergraduate Research Related to Education.

2023 Winner:

  • Rulan Zhang: “Investigating Racialized Gender Brilliance Stereotypes on Children’s Social Preferences”

 

Past winners:

2022:

  • Tatiana Rachlin: “The Impact of Stereotype Beliefs and Biases on Resilience in Science Tasks”
  • Sophie Barth: “Investigating Gendered Perceptions of Ability and Prosocial Behavior.

 

Grabosky Prize recipient Rulan Zhang poses with
Laura Desmond, widow of the late Marylyn Grabosky, and Professor Lin Bian.

    How to Apply:

    Applications for the current academic year should be submitted via google form. The due date will be May 3, 2024. The application should include a research proposal, budget, CV, and a statement of support from an advisor (an email from a faculty member to Megan Swartz at swartzm@uchicago.edu saying that they will advise the project). The awards committee will consider proposals with budgets up to $3,000.

    Detailed instructions on the application package requirements may be found here.

    For more information about this opportunity, or if you would like guidance in the process of preparing your proposal, please contact:

    Lisa Rosen, Associate Senior Instructional Professor and Associate Director of the Committee on Education at rosen@uchicago.edu.