Due to a temporary lack of funding, the David J. Zucconi Fellowship for International Study will not be offered this year.
The fellowship, which the University created in 2003 to honor former admissions officer and fundraiser Dave Zucconi '55, is one of Brown's largest scholarships, having included a $25,000 stipend and round-trip airfare in recent years.
The scholarship is awarded to a graduating senior who plans to pursue a year-long independent research program abroad.
Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron said the interruption of the Zucconi program was caused by a drop in income from fundraising this year, and that the suspension would hopefully be "temporary." Money is already being raised to get the scholarship back on track for next year, she said.
Wilfredo Perez '08 MD'13, who traveled to Les Cayes, Haiti on the Zucconi fellowship in 2008, said he was taking part in those fundraising efforts. Perez used his fellowship award to help establish preventive public health programs for tuberculosis and malaria.
Perez said the fellowship had a "tremendous impact," with the creation of 14 public health programs in a previously overlooked part of Haiti benefiting the lives of over 60,000 people.
The Zucconi is "a scholarship that changed lives," he said.
According to the Dean of the College's Web site, a successful Zucconi applicant must demonstrate a strong academic profile, commitment to public service and leadership qualities. Fellows are then expected to return to Brown and provide mentoring to Brown students.
The Arnold Fellowship, a scholarship opportunity similar to the Zucconi, will still be available this year to one student despite depleted funds. Smaller scholarships, like the Swearer Fellowship and several fellowships offered by the Watson Institute for International Studies, are also available.
David Zucconi died of cancer in 2003. When the University announced the fellowship named in his honor, President Ruth Simmons called him "our greatest cheerleader for the transformational power of higher education."
