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Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program

 

MMUF at Cal State Fullerton


Established in the 1988/1989 academic year, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is committed to broadening the range of scholarly perspectives in the US academy, with a focus on the humanities and the humanistic social sciences. Its name honors Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, the noted African American educator, statesman, minister, former president of Morehouse College, and mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Founded with an initial cohort of eight member institutions, the program has grown to include 47 programs, including three consortia.

To date, the program has produced more than 1,200 PhDs, more than 800 of whom are currently college professors. Numerous others have taken their valuable humanities training into venues ranging from museums and nonprofit organizations to publishing houses and government positions. At any given time, about 800 MMUF fellows are enrolled in PhD programs, while the fellowship supports approximately 500 undergraduate students each year.

Through activities that emphasize mentoring, research support, and student-cohort building, MMUF programs identify and support students of great promise and help them become scholars and professionals of the highest distinction.

MMUF is proud of its legacy of leading scholars whose perspectives greatly enrich research and teaching in their fields.

Please read more about the history of the MMUF program hereOpens in new window .

2026 – 2028 APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 27, 2026 by 5:00 pm PST

Upcoming Info Sessions:
February 20, 1:30 – 2:30 pm (Zoom)
March 11, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm (Location TBA)

Contact Dr. Sarah G. Grant (sagrant@fullerton.edu) for application information and info session dates, links, and details. 

What the Program Provides

Mentoring

All MMUF fellows are paired with a faculty mentor, with whom they are expected to meet on a regular basis. Fellows work with their mentors to develop their scholarly interests into a research project. Mentors will demystify the formal and informal aspects of conducting research in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, applying to graduate school, and navigating the graduate school experience.

Support Networks

MMUF fellows are chosen in cohorts of four students per academic year with eight MMUF fellows at any given time. Fellows will build community with each other, other CSU MMUF fellows, and MMUF alumni throughout the two-year fellowship period. Beyond the Cal State University system, fellows will have access to larger regional and national MMUF support networks that continue beyond graduation.

Meetings and Workshops

During the academic year, MMUF fellows at Cal State Fullerton are expected to meet regularly with each other, their faculty coordinator, and their mentors. These meetings can include workshopping research proposals, developing graduate school application materials, demystifying the graduate school experience, guest speakers from a variety of universities across the country, and other personal and professional development activities. In addition to regular Cal State Fullerton meetings, fellows across the CSU MMUF Consortium participate in planned community building programs and scheduled fieldtrips in the Fall and Spring semesters. During the summer, first-year MMUF fellows will participate in a “first year summer program” hosted by one of the CSU MMUF Consortium campuses. Second-year MMUF fellows will participate in a summer research opportunity program. Further detail about these meetings will be made available to fellows as necessary. 

Program Benefits

  • $4000 term stipends for each year in the program (2 years)
  • $4500 summer stipends for each year in the program (2 years)
  • $600 travel stipends for research based travel expenses (2 years)
  • GRE preparation
  • Up to $10,000 repayment in undergraduate/graduate student loans, once admitted and enrolled into a Ph.D. program
  • Guest lectures and social/cultural activities throughout the year
  • Ongoing professional advising and moral support as fellows develop their research with other students around shared ambitions, including MMUF fellows at other institutions

The MMUF Undergraduate Journal

Every year since 1995, the Harvard University MMUF program has published the MMUF Undergraduate Journal, a collection of scholarly articles by undergraduate Mellon fellows from all member institutions. The aim of this rigorously edited journal is not only to serve as a showcase for fellows’ research and scholarship, but to provide undergraduates with an early glimpse into the processes and expectations of scholarly publishing.