Editor's note: This story originally ran in the winter edition of the Arkansas Alumni magazine.

---

Since their establishment in 2002 as part of the record-breaking gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, the Distinguished Doctoral Fellows and Doctoral Academy Fellows have expanded and elevated graduate education at the U of A, leading to breakthrough research, impactful creative activity and transformational opportunities for the more than 650 students who have graduated from the program.

The fellowships offer nationally-competitive financial packages to approximately 65 outstanding doctoral students each year, both from Arkansas and beyond, helping to recruit top students for research and scholarly activity — work that not only drives economic development in Arkansas, but serves as a rising tide that raises all ships across campus.

"This was a transformational gift," said Curt Rom, interim dean of the Graduate School and International Education. "When you put a top scholar in a laboratory or a studio or an innovation enterprise, everybody around them gets lifted by that talent. They improve the quality of the laboratories or studios where they work, and having more highly-accomplished graduate students enhances our ability to recruit top-notch faculty who want to come work with them. There's a ripple effect of these students across campus."

"One of the goals of the fellowship programs is to attract graduate students who might not otherwise have considered the University of Arkansas as a destination of choice," said Vicky Hartwell, director of graduate fellowships, enrollment and graduation services in GSIE. "As part of my role reviewing the fellowship nominations, I see students coming from all regions of the country and from countries around the globe. Many of our doctoral fellows fall in love with the state and choose to stay here after graduation."

Leah Hamilton

For Leah Hamilton, a Doctoral Academy Fellow graduate, the fellowship provided crucial funds that allowed her to earn a doctorate in public policy she wouldn't have been able to pursue otherwise.

"I would not have the career I have today without the fellowship," Hamilton said. "The fellowship allowed me to reach my goal of completing my education debt-free. Now, I am a poverty scholar and spend my time thinking about how to reshape the social safety net to support all families."

Hamilton decided to pursue a career in public policy after working in foster care for several years, where she saw first-hand the "devastating effects of poorly-designed social policy." She wanted to change that policy to help children and families.

Now an associate professor of social work at Appalachian State University, Hamilton has been able to realize that dream. In addition to her work as a professor, she also serves as the senior fellow at the Jain Family Institute and faculty affiliate at the Social Policy Institute of Washington University in St. Louis. As a co-principal investigator on a team analyzing the temporarily expanded Child Tax Credit's effects on employment and other factors, she gave briefings to the White House and the Senate Joint Economic Commission. She has also been able to advocate for stronger public policy through her work featured in multiple national publications including The Washington Post, CNBC, The Atlantic, Forbes, Vice News, National Public Radio, Fortune and Fast Company.

"I'm very grateful," she said of the fellowship.

Countless Successes

Hamilton is one of countless success stories to graduate from the fellowship. Graduating fellows have gone on to academic careers at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Emory University, Boston University, Yale University and the University of Oxford. Not only that, but others have gone on to work at organizations including NASA, Microsoft, Intel, the U.S. Department of Defense, Apple, General Mills, Nestle, Bank of America, NVIDIA, Toyota, Walmart, Tyson and the National Science Foundation.

"Because of their involvement in research, science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, they've been hired by some of the top companies in the country, and now we find our graduates working across the globe, whether it be in an international university or for multinational corporations and being located internationally," Rom said.

But fellows have also made an indelible impact on the state of Arkansas as well, solving problems that will help the state's residents.

"A number of the Doctoral Academy Fellows and Distinguished Doctoral Fellows are working on projects that are very relevant to the state of Arkansas, whether that be a business or engineering or an environmental science or agriculture problem," Rom said. "The research they're doing, in combination with their faculty mentors, are solving real-world problems with science-based information to help elevate Arkansas."

"Many of our fellows are also working on problems related to quality of life, whether that be nutrition, diet or health and science," Rom said. "The technology they're discovering or creating is being applied in medical fields, nutritional fields, and even across our agricultural enterprise to have a more vibrant, viable sustainable food system."

Not only that, but the research conducted by fellows has also driven economic development in the state. The fellows' work has often been commercialized, with graduating fellows becoming entrepreneurs helming startup businesses centered around their technology.

Matthew Leftwich

One of those fellows is Matthew Leftwich. A 2010 Doctoral Academy Fellow graduate and Arkansas native, Leftwich has participated in the startup of five small businesses in Northwest Arkansas, culminating with Nanomatronix LLC, where Leftwich serves as chief executive officer. He has generated more than $20 million in research and development commercialization funding for start-ups over the last 25 years, in addition to leading four successful product launches for space and military applications.

Now, he serves as director of the Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program, where he is helping other doctoral students realize the potential of their research.

"The Doctoral Academy Fellowship allowed me to remain in Arkansas to complete my academic goals while pursuing my career goals in parallel," Leftwich said. "If the Doctoral Academy Fellowship and microelectronics-photonics program did not exist, it is entirely possible that I would have chosen to relocate out of state, and the local impact I have had may not have blossomed. Not only did the fellowship help prepare me for success, it was an enabling factor to my success and allowed me to achieve my goals here in Northwest Arkansas."

As for the future of the fellowships, Rom sees continued expansion of doctoral education across campus as colleges replicate their own fellowships in their areas.

"I think the future of this fellowship program is quite bright," Rom said. "The success of these fellowships has created the opportunity for colleges and departments to raise money for additional fellowships. So, we see a range of other fellowships that are modeled on our graduate school fellowships that are now emerging in colleges. They want to create additional success through their philanthropic gifts."

More information on the fellowships can be found on the GSIE website. For more success stories of the fellows, visit the DAF/DDF anniversary celebration page.