The Joseph F. Wall '41 Sesquicentennial Service Awards, established during Grinnell College's Sesquicentennial celebration in 1996, have created a legacy to the College's tradition of 150 years of social responsibility and public service.

The awards are named in honor of the late professor of history who always inspired an ideal of social responsibility in his students. The awards will provide financial support for selected graduates to engage in a period of service in projects, programs, and organizations that are dedicated to improving the lives of others. Any graduate of Grinnell College with a commitment to service for the benefit of others is eligible to apply for the awards.

The projects should be able to demonstrate a tangible benefit to others. Project proposals should include a clear plan of implementation including a project budget. The projects may be original or supplement existing projects or programs. Projects may address issues specific to local communities, regions, or of wider global concern. Award winners return to campus after completion of their projects to share their experiences.

The awards are a fitting and lasting tribute to the College's beloved Professor Joseph Wall and to the alumni's dedication to community service. Printed applications are available through the Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs, International Relations, and Human Rights of Grinnell College, or may be obtained in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format here:

Download the application by clicking here.

Profiles of Wall Award Winners provided courtesy of The Grinnell Magazine

2008:
Kara Murphy '97: DuPage County, IL
Click Here to read about Kara's work with low-income, uninsured residents of DuPage County, IL

Elizabeth Powley '93 and John Fuson '93: Washington D.C./Burundi and Rwanda, Africa
Click Here to read about John and Elizabeth's work providing education access to children in Burundi and Rwanda


2007:
Benjamin Hodgdon '96: Oaxaca State, Mexico
Click Here to read about Benjamin's work initiating community forestry with Zapotec indigenous villages

Alice Gates '97: Washtenaw County, Michigan
Click Here to read about Alice's work advancing leadership for low-wage workers in Washtenaw County, MI

David Calvert '75: Mexico and Central America
Click Here to read about David's work empowering and educating unemployed youth in Latin America

2006
Karry Carr '84: State College, Pennsylvania
Click Here to read about Karry's work helping adults with developmental disabilities gain social skills

Luna Ranjit '00: Long Island City, New York
Click Here to read about Luna's work heading a non-profit that promotes human rights and social justice in Nepal, and among Nepalis driven from their homes by political unrest

2005
Janet Olson '02: Quito, Ecuador
Click Here to read about Janet's work rescuing components of the indigenous Shuar culture, and providing a source of income for marginalized people.

Daniel Werner '91: Kingston, New York
Click Here to read about Daniel's work with the Workers' Rights Law Center of New York's community legal education project.

2004
Jane Hayes: São Paolo, Brazil
Click Here to read about Jane's work funding a halfway house for adolescent males

David Simmons '88: Dominican Republic
Click Here to read about David's work building a community center for Haitian agricultural workers in the Dominican Republic

2003
Theodore Massey '00: Stepanavan, Armenia
Click Here to read about Theodore's work building a community resource center in Stepanavan, Armenia

Sabrina Eagan '96: Komamboga, Uganda
Click Here to read about Sabrina's work improving adolescent health services and education in Komamboga, Uganda.

2002
Sarah Fee '86: Madagascar
Click Here to read about Sarah's work building schools and providing training to residents of villages in Madagascar.

Anita Chakravarti Hale '94 : Pierce County, Washington
Click Here to read about Anita's work providing legal services for geographically and linguistically islated victims of domestic violence in the rural areas of Pierce County, Washington.

2001
J. Scott Raecker '84: Lijiang, China
Click Here to read about Scott's work renovating and enlarging two orphanages in the City of Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China

Hollis Pfitsch '96: Washington State
Click Here to read about Hollis' work reaching out to immigrant survivors of domestic violence and making them aware that there are laws to protect them.

2000
Amy Neevel '95: New York City, New York
Click Here to read about Amy's work funding a series of slam poetry workshops for New York City youth.

Lorie Hill '68: San Francisco, California
Click Here to read about Lorie's work funding a violence prevention program at five San Francisco area homeless shelters.

1999
Sandra Stein '88 and David Loewenstein '88: New York City, New York/Holcomb, Missouri
Click Here to read about Sandra and David's work involving two youth groups from diverse contexts in researching, designing, and painting a mural.

Anne Anderson '64: Washington, D.C.
Click Here to read about Anne's work funding the Psychologists for Social Responsibility's (PsySR) International Peace Practitioner's Network.

1998
Benjamin Whitehill '51: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Click Here to read about Ben's work expanding the 10-year-old organization known as "Bread for the Journey"

Trevor Harris '89: Cold Springs, New York
Click Here to read about Trevor's work developing an after-school program for high school students in Cold Springs, New York.

1997
Ric MacDowell '68: West Virginia
Click Here to read about Ric's work developing a program to bring together at-risk children, parents, supporting adults, and teachers.

Lynne Leeper '67: Washington State
Click Here to read about Lynne's work bringing together families of children with disabilities.

Jenny Egan '49: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Click Here to read about Jenny's work orchestrating a series of three concerts featuring multi-ethnic music to develop multicultural relations.

Doug Cutchins '93 and Anne Geissinger '93: Suriname, South America
Click Here to read about Doug and Anne's work augmenting and expanding the educational facilities and opportunities of 1,500 Saramaccan residents of the Gran Lio River in Suriname, South America.