The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation is an American non-profit organization that awards prestigious[3] fellowships to Ph.D. students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences. The fellowship provides students with up to $250,000 of support over five years, giving them flexibility and the ability to pursue their own interests, as well as mentoring from alumni fellows.[4] Fellowship recipients pledge to make their skills available to the United States in times of national emergency.[5]

Fannie and John Hertz Foundation
Founded1957[1]
FounderFannie and John D. Hertz
FocusApplied science and engineering
Location
Area served
United States
MethodPh.D. Fellowships
Key people
Robbee Baker Kosak, President
David J. Galas, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board
Philip Welkhoff, Ph.D., Senior Fellowship Interviewer
Revenue$5,055,682[2] (2018)
Expenses$4,364,123[2] (2018)
Websitehertzfoundation.org

Hertz Fellowship

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History

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The Hertz Foundation was established in 1957[1] with the goal of supporting applied sciences education. The founder, John D. Hertz, was a European emigrant[6] whose family arrived in the United States with few resources, when the Hertz was five years old. Hertz matured into a prominent entrepreneur and business leader (founder of the Yellow Cab Company and owner of the Hertz corporation) as the automotive age burgeoned in Chicago. Initially, the Foundation granted undergraduate scholarships to qualified and financially limited mechanical and electrical engineering students. In 1963, the undergraduate scholarship program was phased out and replaced with postgraduate fellowships leading to the award of the Ph.D. The scope of the studies supported by the fellowships was also enlarged to include applied sciences and other engineering disciplines.

Competitiveness

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For the 2017–2018 academic year, nearly 800 applicants applied for 10 spots, giving it an acceptance rate of 1.5%. Since 1960, the foundation has made awards to 1,271 fellows, with 309 fellows affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 255 with Stanford University; 104 with the University of California, Berkeley; 95 with the California Institute of Technology; and 76 with Harvard University. These top five universities account for nearly two-thirds of all fellows.[7]

Institution Fellows (1960-2022)[7]
MIT 309
Stanford 255
Berkeley 104
Caltech 95
Harvard 76

Notable Fellows

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In 2018, some 30 Hertz Fellows were recognized by MIT Technology Review, Forbes, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Academy of Sciences and many others for outstanding work in their respective fields.

Thesis Prize

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The Hertz Foundation requires that each Fellow furnish the Foundation a copy of his or her doctoral dissertation upon receiving the Ph.D. The Foundation's Thesis Prize Committee examines the Ph.D. dissertations for their overall excellence and pertinence to high-impact applications of the physical sciences. Each Thesis Prize winner receives an honorarium of $5,000.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Jay Davis, PhD, Elected President of the Hertz Foundation". NonProfitPRO. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Fannie and John Hertz Foundation" (PDF). Hertz Foundation. Retrieved 3 December 2018.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Hertz Foundation announces 2024 Hertz fellows". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
  4. ^ "Five with MIT ties win 2022 Hertz Foundation Fellowships". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2022-07-08. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
  5. ^ "The Hertz Fellowship". Fannie and John Hertz Foundation. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
  6. ^ "The Hertz Corporation Partners with the Hertz Foundation to sponsor 2019 fellow". Bloomberg. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Our Fellows". hertzfoundation.org.
  8. ^ "Kathleen Fisher". Fannie and John Hertz Foundation. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Leonidas Guibas". The Hertz Foundation. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Nate Lewis, PhD, 1977 Hertz Fellow". The Hertz Foundation. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  11. ^ "David Kriegman". The Hertz Foundation. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  12. ^ Emma Pierson's webpage https://www.cs.cornell.edu/~emmapierson/images/resume.pdf. Retrieved 30 October 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ "Robert Sedgewick". Fannie and John Hertz Foundation. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  14. ^ Saijel Kishan (1 October 2015). "Two Sigma Hires Google's Spector as Chief Technology Officer". Bloomberg.com.
  15. ^ Celebrating 50 Years of the Hertz Graduate Fellowship (PDF). The Hertz Foundation. 2013.
  16. ^ "General Officer Announcements". West Point Association of Graduates. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  17. ^ "Lee T. Todd, Jr". University of Kentucky. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Hertz Thesis Prize". Fannie and John Hertz Foundation. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
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