FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The College of Education and Health Professions announced the names of two Distinguished Doctoral Fellows, the first of the fellowships endowed by the Walton family to be awarded by the college.

"The graduate fellowships funded by the Walton family have allowed us to offer significant support to outstanding and ambitious graduate students," said Reed Greenwood, dean of the college. "We are confident that the Distinguished Doctoral Fellowships will help the college bring the most talented doctoral students nationally into our programs."

Cliff Knickerbocker, a doctoral student in health science, has been awarded an interdisciplinary fellowship through the department of health science, kinesiology, recreation and dance and the university’s public policy Ph.D. program. Knickerbocker will work in the Health Education Projects Office under the leadership of health science professor Michael Young, concentrating on the interface of cancer epidemiology, prevention, education and policy.

Knickerbocker will be involved with several projects, including evaluating tobacco control policy and analyzing cancer mortality trends in Arkansas, prevention projects, and health-related quality-of-life issues.

Melissa Powers, a doctoral student in kinesiology, will receive a Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship in Gerontology, an interdisciplinary fellowship through the department of health science, kinesiology, recreation and dance and the department of rehabilitation, human resources, and communication disorders. She will work with the Office for Studies on Aging under the direction of Ro DiBrezzo, professor of kinesiology, and Barbara Shadden, professor of communication disorders.

Powers will assist the Office for Studies on Aging in coordinating the new Graduate Certification Program in Gerontology. In addition to participating in ongoing research related to caregiving for older adults and exercise for the elderly, she will have the opportunity to develop external funding proposals to support UA research on aging.

The endowment for Distinguished Doctoral Fellowships generates a stipend of about $20,000 annually, and the departments will provide an additional $10,000 stipend to supplement the fellowships awarded to Knickerbocker and Powers.