Mohrman Fellowship Supports Student Research
Throughout her life and career, Kathryn Jagow Mohrman ’67 has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to higher education, the liberal arts, and Grinnell College, where student research is one of the pillars of a liberal arts education. This deep commitment to the liberal arts has manifested itself in the creation of the Mohrman Fellowship Fund, which supports student research conducted with a faculty mentor.
“It’s very gratifying to know that my consistent giving has enabled students to experience doing original research as undergraduates. I had that opportunity in my senior year at Grinnell so I want to make it possible for others,” Mohrman says. “It’s not difficult to set up such a fund, and I’d encourage others to consider it — the impact can be huge.”
As a long-time trustee at Grinnell College, Mohrman began giving regularly in support of the Mohrman Fellowship Fund 25 years ago, and these consistent gifts have grown the fund, which has now supported more than 20 students pursuing faculty-mentored research or special projects in history and political science. Many of the recipients have utilized funding from the Mohrman Fellowship Fund to cover international travel and other related expenses that supported their study or research.
History major Alice Herman ’18 used her Mohrman Fellowship to conduct oral histories and do archival work in Guatemala during a summer break. “That research informed my MAP project, which focused on student resistance to U.S.-backed dictatorships in the country,” Herman explains.
She adds, “Without the Mohrman Fellowship, I probably would not have been able to do my MAP. It allowed me to reach people and access documents on the ground that I would never have been able to connect with remotely.”
Studying history informed Herman’s interest in journalism, and the Mohrman Fellowship gave her the opportunity to interview people and analyze primary source documents. She uses these skills daily in her work as a contributing reporter at The Guardian and an independent journalist.
Mohrman, whose father who served as president of Hiram College for nearly two decades, developed a passion for higher education early. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Grinnell with a degree in history and went on to earn a master’s degree in American history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a doctorate in public policy analysis from George Washington University. In 2005, she received an honorary doctorate from Grinnell College.
Mohrman’s distinguished, decades-long career in higher education carried her to the presidency of Colorado College, which she led for almost a decade (1993–2002), always championing her vision of the liberal arts college as a “community of learning and discovery” that is “committed to understanding the human condition in all its richness and complexity.”
Since leaving Colorado College in 2002, Mohrman remained active in education as a teacher, author, and scholar until her retirement in 2015. From 2002–03, she was a Fulbright Scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She served as executive director of the Hopkins Nanjing Center from 2003–08 and as a professor of public affairs at Arizona State University until 2015.
Mohrman’s unswerving support for education, the liberal arts, and student research has made an important difference for students, for Grinnell College, and for the common good.