Marietta College receives $250,000 gift to establish research fellow

Bank of America honors author David McCullough, wife with grant

by Tom Perry

Marietta, Ohio (03/22/2021) — The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has made a gift of $250,000 to Marietta College to establish the Bank of America/David and Rosalee McCullough Research Fellowship Endowment.

The gift is made in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough and his wife, Rosalee. From 2017-19, McCullough spent time at Marietta College's Special Collections conducting research for his book, The Pioneers.

The fellowship will allow Marietta to support a researcher-in-residence at the College.

"We are deeply honored and grateful to Bank of America for this wonderful gift that will allow us to attract and recruit nationally relevant researchers to our campus," said Dr. William N. Ruud, Marietta College's 19th President. "The researchers will have access to our valuable archives located in our world-class Special Collections, and they will reward our campus community and the community at large with public lectures, class discussions and even one-on-one opportunities for students conducting undergraduate research. This is an unbelievable opportunity for everyone involved."

The College has yet to determine when it will announce the first fellow, but the intent is to host two research fellows each academic year.

"We will invite both young scholars working on dissertations, and established scholars and authors," said Dr. Janet Bland, Marietta College's Provost and Dean of the Faculty. "The amazing and rewarding experience we had with David McCullough and his assistant, Michael Hill, is why the College wanted to explore having a permanent fellowship. This is going to be an extremely valuable addition to what we offer at Marietta College."

When ready, the College will accept proposals on all studies focusing on Early American History with special preference to studies focusing on Midwestern history - especially on the early settlement of Ohio and the Northwest Territory and more broadly on Ohio and the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers more than 50 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value added, regardless of major. Marietta College has also been named a Great College to Work For three consecutive years (2018-2020).

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