Malcolm McDonald Fellowship

The McDonald Fellowship is named in honor of former YAANW president and longtime board member Malcolm McDonald '58. For 50 years, Malcolm served as the Alumni Schools Committee chair for St. Paul, greater MN, and western WI. In this role, he welcomed hundreds of future Yalies at events for admitted students. In 2019, Yale Admissions honored Malcolm with the ASC Ambassador Award. Malcolm graduated from Yale magna cum laude and received an MBA from Harvard before returning to his hometown, St. Paul. He was involved in numerous Minnesota community organizations throughout his life and was passionate about expanding educational opportunities to all.

What: A fully-funded fellowship of $6000 is available to current Yale undergraduate students to support a region-focused project or qualifying opportunity that enriches the student’s education during the summer. The YAANW region consists of Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, and western Wisconsin. A region-focused project and qualifying opportunity means that the project explores issues pertinent to the area, supports work in the region and/or that the student is from the region. 

Purpose: The goal of the Malcolm McDonald Fellowship is to enrich a Yale student’s learning while exploring our region’s rich civic, cultural, corporate, natural, or political dynamics. This grant aims to retain or attract Yale talent to the region, to foster a positive, shared learning experience among the awardees, and build a sense of community among the larger Minnesota, eastern Dakotas and western Wisconsin Yale alumni networks. 

Eligibility:  Any current Yale undergraduate is eligible for this award if the project or experience proposed is region-focused and/or is being enacted by a current Yale student from the region. The Fellowship Committee of the YAANW Board will administer the award and select the recipient(s). One to two fellowships will be awarded annually based on available funding. Awardees will be expected to provide a photo and timely summary of the project to YAANW to acknowledge completion and give permission to post a short description on our webpage to promote further applications and share their work with our members.

Application Requirements: 

Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until May 1, 2025 with preference given to applications received by April 1, 2025.