Fund: John E. and Elizabeth S. Leonard Endowed Graduate Student Fellowship for Academic Excellence Fund Department: SAAIP Administration Unit D02136 Purpose: Graduate Student Support BACKGROUND: The John and Elizabeth Leonard Family Foundation has, as one of its primary missions, the promotion of education in mathematics and the sciences so that students may succeed in a technologically complex world. John Leonard earned his PhD at UC Riverside and has served as a trustee on the U.C. Riverside Foundation board and John and Elizabeth serve on the Beyond Brilliant Student Support Initiative Committee. They wish to support the initiative by establishing the College of Natural and Agricultural Science’s largest endowment in support of graduate students. Fund Purpose: This Fund shall be used to provide Ph.D. graduate student support in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Criteria and Selection Process: The graduate student award will be offered to students during the recruitment process or at any time during their matriculation as a student in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS). Fund allocation to any number of students in financial need will be determined by the CNAS Dean or their designee. The fellowship may be awarded in any of the following scenarios based on graduate student needs as identified by the CNAS Dean or their designee: - Every other year so that each graduate student recipient will be funded for a period of two consecutive years with a minimum award amount of $27,500 each year for a total of at least $55,000 in support. - A fellowship of at least $13,750 may be awarded to a graduate student annually. In years when there is no candidate who meets the criteria, awards will be held until the following year.