Established in 2015, the price is intended to support students who undertake research in the community that has the potential to facilitate change.
Elon University has relaunched The Leadership Prize, a program offering support for undergraduate research projects that have the potential to facilitate change.
The $7,500 prize was established in 2015 through a gift from the late Isabella Cannon ’24, a former mayor of Raleigh, N.C., and a distinguished leader in North Carolina. It is open to students from all areas of study, with recipients selected in the fall of their junior year and the prize supporting their research during the final three semesters at Elon. It returns after a one-year hiatus.
Projects should be based upon research that focus on pressing community issues or programs that could effect social change, with preference given to projects based in North Carolina. Up to three recipients are selected each year.
“The Leadership Prize is unique in that it goes beyond advancing academic research,” said Rob Moorman, Frank S. Holt Jr. Chair in Business Leadership, who oversees the program. “It is designed to support students who use their research to propose solutions to community-based problems and to lay out plans for how those solutions might be implemented.”
Recipients are expected to participate in the Leadership Development Program that includes two leadership development workshops or events during each of the three semesters their project is supported by the award. Recipients will also enroll in LED 498, “Leadership Research,” for each of the three semesters.
Among the research topics and projects Leadership Prize recipients have undertaken in the past:
- “The Deportation Threat and its Health Impact on Hispanic Immigrant College Students”
- “Increasing Mental Health Awareness among College-Age Students in Post-revolution Tunisia: A Social Intervention”
- “Looking Beyond the Classroom: Responding to Educator Needs in Linguistically Diverse Schools”
A full list of past recipients and their projects is available here.
Applications are due Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, for projects that will be completed by the end of the spring 2021 semester. More information about the prize and the application process is available here.