Scholarships and Awards

Florence V. Ritchie Scholarship – Interior Architecture

Scholarship funds provided from one half of the estate of Florence V. Ritchey. Florence taught in the Home Economics Department at Chico State College from September 1926 to August 1960. The Home Economics Department was divided up and portions went to various colleges. The scholarship will be awarded for students in majors that still remain, that comprised the Home Economics Department. This scholarship is awarded to Interior Architecture majors.

Janet Turner Memorial Scholarship

Established and funded by the Board of Directors of the Janet Turner Print Museum, this scholarship is designated for a BA or BFA student in printmaking. It memorializes and honors Janet Turner, well known printmaker, respected teacher, and print collector during her career at Chico State. Turner’s collection is the heart of The Turner, the only such print collection in the CSU system.

Kenneth and Donna Morrow Memorial Scholarship

When long-time faculty painter Ken Morrow and his wife, Donna, died in a car accident, his family and colleagues endowed this award to honor the career of this much loved teacher and community art activist. The flame sculpture on First Street, a symbol for CSU, Chico, was created by Ken Morrow’s students under his mentorship. This award is for artistic achievement and potential.

Luella Hopton Madsen Scholarship – Interior Architecture

This scholarship is for an Interior Architecture major from a high school in Butte County or from a neighboring county if there are no qualified Butte County applicants.

Mary Ahlquist Memorial Scholarship

This award is for art history or art studio majors and recognizes artistic promise and academic achievement.

Monty Betty Art Studio Scholarship

Students must be in the Art Studio program with a focus on one of the following: Ceramics, Painting and Drawing, or Sculpture. If no students meet the criteria in an award cycle, the pool of applicants may be opened to students in any focus in the Art Studio Major.

Pedro Martinez Memorial Scholarship

The Pedro Martinez Art scholarship was established in 2014 by the Chico Chapter of the alumni of Epsilon Sigma Rho Multicultural Fraternity, Inc.. This scholarship was formed to commemorate the life and continue the legacy of their fraternity brother, Pedro Martinez.

Pierce/Trucksess Studio Art Scholarship

Professor Emerita and former Chair of the Art Department Ann Pierce endowed this award to honor her mother, Frances H. Trucksess. Over time this endowment has grown to become one of the art department’s major scholarship awards for upper division and graduate students who demonstrate outstanding achievement in watermedia.

Reed Applegate Art Scholarship

The Reed Applegate scholarship recipient must be majoring in studio art, with an emphasis in painting printmaking, or ceramics/sculpture. Recipients must demonstrate a consistent dedication to creating art, a strong desire for expression through their chosen medium, and a commitment to maintaining a lifelong interest in art.

Richard H. Hornaday Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship was established by his spouse, Jenifer, to honor the memory of a great teacher and artist. The intention is to continue Richard’s legacy of encouraging and inspiring artists by providing scholarship support to students studying art at CSUC. He was chair of the art department and instrumental in developing the BFA program. His artwork has won many awards and has been widely exhibited. His loss of sight did not prevent him from continuing to create art, his work reflects the inner spirit that kept him going.

Ruby Ravekes Scholarship

For art and art history majors, this award recognizes academic achievement, and was endowed by Jack Ravekes to honor the memory of his wife.

Sarah Frisbie Hamilton Scholarship

This scholarship was established in 1980 by Mrs. James Dowrie in honor of her mother. It is dedicated to students preparing for careers in art or art education, and selection is based on academic achievement and potential.

John Bash Scholarship for Religious Studies

This scholarship honors Professor John Bash who retired in 1999 and was known for his commitment to study abroad tours, his love for the study of religion, and for his dedication to students and majors who were interested in the study of religions of the east and west. The scholarship is for academic achievement from juniors and seniors.

Kurt Stai Scholarship

The family of Kurt Stai endowed this award after he died while attending Chico State. It honors his memory and academic aspirations and is awarded to a student in religious studies who demonstrates academic achievement.

Carol Burr 1st Generation Scholarship

This award goes to first-generation college students with academic potential. It honors the life and work of Frank and Marie Burr who dedicated their lives to the ideals and practicalities of social justice and education. The scholarship is endowed by their children, including Professor Emerita and former English Department Chair Carol Burr.

Dr. Fred Smiley English Scholarship

In 1966, Fred Smiley held a variety of full-time positions in public and private school in several states, teaching students from diverse backgrounds. Besides teaching English and English as a Second Language to middle and high school students, he acted as a coach of several sports, and assisted as a counselor and administrator. In his subsequent four professorships, Dr. Smiley, taught a number of courses in teacher education, and won regional teaching and service learning awards. In poetry, with a reoccurring theme of “life as a journey,” recounting numerous people he met, and interacted, all rich with imagery and ideas that transcend the winding journeys he encountered, beginning with his CSUC days.

Fannie Mae McDaniel Scholarship

As a retiree in Chico, Ms. McDaniel loved taking courses at Chico State. She was a graduate of Barnard College and Columbia Law and was committed to life-long learning. Ms. McDaniel endowed this scholarship for students majoring in English with high academic achievement.

Jean Nedrow Kutz Scholarship

This award was bequeathed by Ms. Kutz to honor merit, academic performance, and academic promise. Selection is based on faculty recommendation of the student's significant work in literary studies.

John C. Conway Memorial Scholarship

John C. Conway was born September 29, 1968, in Oakland, CA. He was a 1986 graduate of Acalanes High School in Lafayette and enjoyed working with computers. John was a Chico State sophomore majoring in education at the time of his death in a train accident.

E.I. Miller Award Scholarship

Chico alum Vaden Mayer (1936) endowed this award to honor Professor and interim University President Miller for his teaching ability. It is awarded to a student who demonstrates outstanding scholarship.

Jacqueline Barnhart Memorial Scholarship

Professor Barnhart taught at Chico for more than 20 years. When she died, her family and colleagues established this award to honor Dr. Barnhart's commitment to helping students succeed. The award provides assistance to students with a commitment to academic achievement in history.

Lew D. Oliver Scholarship

Professor Lew Oliver, history, was an interim president of the University. This scholarship was established in his memory by his wife and is awarded to students with academic potential.

Lois E. Christensen Scholarship

Professor Emerita Lois Christensen endowed this scholarship for junior or senior history majors with high academic achievement. Professor Christensen taught in the History Department, served as chair of the department, and as dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Michael J. Gillis Scholarship

The family and friends of Michael J. Gillis, professor emeritus of history, established this scholarship to honor his dedication to students and teaching. One of the best loved faculty in history and university life courses, Gillis was the co-author with Professor Mike Magliari of John Bidwell's California: Observations and Reflections of a Pioneer, 1841-1900, the well-regarded biography of the founder of the city of Chico. This award goes to students who show academic promise.

Ranko Moeller Scholarship

Ranko’s parents, Dirk and Mira Moeller, and other family members established the Ranko Moeller Memorial Scholarship to honor his memory by providing support to students who, like Ranko, blossom during their year in GST. When the GST program ended, the scholarship was revised to support students enrolled in the Honors Survey of Civilization (HSC) in the GE Honors Program, since HSC preserves the curricular kernel of GST.

Sarah Libby Mahood Merit Scholarship

This award was endowed by Ms. Mahood's parents after she died while a Chico State student. It honors a senior student with exemplary personal character and academic achievement.

The Geraldine M. Reager Memorial Scholarship

Geraldine Margaret Reager was born June 10, 1929 in Orland, California. Her ancestors were early pioneers of Glenn County. Geraldine, or "Aunt Geri," earned her teaching credential from Chico State in 1951 and taught high school in Biggs, Chester, and Sacramento for more than 30 years. Her family established this endowed scholarship to honor her memory by providing support to students who reflect her interests in history and teaching.

Betsy Randolph Spanish Language Scholarship

A Chico State Spanish alum and retired kindergarten teacher, Betsy Randolph believes passionately in the importance of acquiring a second language. She created this award to recognize a student with demonstrated service to the Spanish Language department through participation with publications and other activities including the honors society Phi Sigma Iota, of which she is an honorary member.

Maria S. Haynes & Italian Studies Scholarship

Named to honor the long career of the late Professor Emerita Maria S. Haynes, this award is funded by family, colleagues, and the on-going efforts of the Italian Studies Advisory Council. The award is given to students enrolled in Italian classes who show academic potential.

Melitta T. Singer Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship was established by Barbara and Joseph Stengel in 2009 to honor the memory of Mrs. Stengel's mother, Melitta Theresia Singer. Melitta Singer was born in 1922 and grew up in Sudetenland, Germany, the daughter of a working, lower-to-middle class family. She apprenticed as a seamstress until World War II intervened, and then spent the war years in Berlin working for the German Red Cross. She eventually settled in Wiesbaden, where she raised her daughter Barbara, endowing her daughter with a rich love of reading and learning. Barbara attended Chico State, earning her B.A. and Masters in History. This scholarship is intended to support students pursuing a major or minor in German.

• Music Scholarships
• Theatre Scholarships

Scholarship contacts

• Musical Theater - Matthew Miller
• Theatre or Dance - Megan Zollinger
• Instrumental - Rocky Winslow 
• Piano - Natalya Shkoda 
• Vocal - David Scholz 
• Guitar -David Scholz 
• Recording Arts - Dann Sargent
• Music Industry - Paul Young

General scholarship questions: Contact Dr David Scholz, Chair of the Scholarship Committee

Professor Kirk Monfort Philosophy Scholarship

For a Philosophy major with the most impressive academic performance.

David and Shari Hopper Award

The Hoppers have been actively involved in the North State art community since founding Orient and Flume Art Glass in 1973. In 1982 David pursued his own career in blown glass sculpture, exhibiting and teaching worldwide over the next 10 years. Today both David and Shari are recognized nationally and internationally for their personal artistic endeavors. They have remained closely connected to the faculty and students in the art department at CSU, Chico, and are establishing this award to recognize and support Master of Fine Arts students with demonstrated artistic potential. The amount of the award, and number of awards, may vary each year at donor's discretion. Recipients must be enrolled in the CSU, Chico Masters of Fine Arts program, or have equivalent graduate-level standing as an art student via the Department of Art and Art History's direct international exchange agreements.

Jerril Dean and Pat Kopp Student Print Prize

This endowment provides funding to purchase the print from the recipient of the Janet Turner Memorial Scholarship. Funding for the award is provided by printmaker Jerril Dean, who taught at Chico State, and her husband, Pat Kopp. The Kopp’s were personal friends of Janet Turner, and have been strong supporters of student printmaking and efforts to care for the priceless Turner Collection.

Marion Epting Print Prize

Professor emeritus, Epting taught at Chico State for nearly 40 years and was instrumental in founding the university’s printmaking program and in the creation of the Janet Turner Print Museum.

Paul Feldhaus Print Prize

This prize is funded annually by Pat Feldhaus, wife of the late Paul Feldhaus. Paul taught at the University for two decades and was an accomplished printmaker, whose works of art were treasured locally and exhibited nationwide.

Sarah Canfield Anderson Award

Created by Darius and Sarah Anderson to recognize outstanding work by a sculpture student.

The Jack Windsor Ink/Clay Prize

This prize is named in honor of Jack Windsor, CSU, Chico professor emeritus, who helped found the ceramic lab at Chico State.

The Juried Student Art Exhibition

Each year, students in the Art Department submit work for the annual show open to all art majors.

Turner Print Museum Student Exhibition

Each year, The Turner invites Chico State printmaking students to submit work for its annual print-making exhibition. Top prizes for the juried exhibition are named in honor of art faculty who taught at Chico State.

Charles and Marie Felver Prize in English

This prize was established by the late Professor Emeritus Stan Felver, former chair of the English Department, to recognize an outstanding BA English student.

Creative Writing Awards

The Creative Writing Program selects manuscripts to be submitted to the national Associated Writing Program Awards competition. Faculty select the campus winners and award honorariums; national winners are selected in the fall.

Ellen Walker Prize for Excellence in Editing

Faculty Emerita Ellen Walker developed the Literary Editing program, which publishes Watershed, nearly 30 years ago. This prize, for a student demonstrating excellence in the program, is sponsored in her honor by former students and colleagues.

English Department Diversity Award

This award recognizes English majors and minors with a GPA of 2.5 or better, who demonstrate a commitment to diversity as a means of inclusive excellence through coursework, extracurricular activities, community service, volunteerism, and/or work experience.

History Essay Award

This award recognizes exceptional writing on any topic in history; the winner is selected by the faculty in the department.

Lois H. McDonald History Graduate Research Award

Established to assist graduate students with expenses associated with off-campus research, this award was endowed by alum Lois H. McDonald (1976), a local historian who was awarded the Individual Award of Merit by the Conference of California Historical Societies for her contributions to state and local history.

John Boyle Outstanding Japanese Language Student

This award was established by John Boyle to recognize and award student excellence in the study of Japanese language. John Boyle, an author and scholar in the area of pre- and post-war Japan, taught courses in east Asian history at Chico State from 1968 until his retirement in 1997. He and his wife Barbara Shipley Boyle lived, for many years, in Tokyo, and now reside in Chico.

Philosophy Writing Contest Award

The Department of Philosophy inaugurated the essay contest in 2002 to honor the best essay written in a timed contest. The winner is selected by a panel of faculty.