Fund:

Yvonne Ida Danielsen Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund

Department:

Graduate Student Financial Aid Dept D01145

Purpose:

Graduate Student Support

Background:
Yvonne Ida Danielsen was born in Canada on January 2, 1925. She settled in Hemet, CA in 1951. There, Yvonne founded Club 24 and was active in United Way's local Loss of Spouse group.
She left a generous bequest fund, which was established in 2005, to benefit UCR students in science. Because Yvonne lived most of her life in the Inland Empire, Robert C. Watkins, her partner and Trustee of the Yvonne Ida Danielsen Trust, created the fund at UC Riverside - the UC campus that was making the greatest impact in the region where they lived. In recognition of Yvonne's desire that award recipients repay the monies they receive, the fund was originally established as a loan fund. However, due to a lack of utilization of the loan, the fund was converted to a fellowship fund in 2014 to benefit more graduate students.

History and Purpose:
In May 2005 the fund was established and named the Yvonne Ida Danielsen Endowed Graduate Student Loan Fund. The Fund provided interest-free loans to graduate students enrolled at UC Riverside.

In October 2014 the fund was converted from a loan fund to a fellowship fund and renamed the Yvonne Ida Danielsen Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund. The purpose of the fellowship fund is to provide financial support to graduate students pursuing a degree in a field of science. The use of the award monies is not limited to tuition and fees, but may be applied to living expenses, books, research activities, conference registration and travel, and other expenses that may advance students' academic career in their chosen field. Award recipients shall be encouraged to repay the award by making contributions to the Endowed Fund when they are financially able in order to replenish the fund to benefit future students.

The award shall be given to full-time graduate students in good academic standing, exhibiting financial need, pursuing an advanced degree, and deomonstrating exceptional potential in a field of science. The Dean of the Graduate Division, or his/her designee, is authorized to determine the specific procedures for award selection.





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