Students lunch at the University Club with Dr. Condon, center, and Mary Tolar, third left. Tolar, a Truman Foundation representative as well as a former Rhodes Scholar and Truman Scholarship recipient, discusses the ins and outs of applying for prestigious scholarships and fellowships.

 

Applying for a Major Fellowship? Look Up “Dr. Pat”

"Dr. Pat" is the affectionate name often used when students talk about Dr. Patricia Condon, the associate director of the University Honors Program. And there is good reason for it.

She is always there for Honors students and her welcome is genuine and warm. She keeps the door of her office open to all students-- Honors, graduate and any other U of L-affiliated student -- interested in applying for prestigious scholarships and fellowships.

And she goes the extra mile. Before school started, she provided three delightful dinners -- entirely prepared by Dr. Condon -- in her home as a welcome back to the Overseers Scholars Development Program (OSDP) students. Cooking dinner is definitely not in her job description, but it is typically Dr. Condon.

The scholarship support office located in the Honors House and directed by Dr. Condon provides high-achieving students the critical support services that smooth the way for those choosing to apply for national fellowships and scholarships. After wading into the waters of Marshall, Carnegie, Fulbright, Gates, Goldwater, Madison, NIH, Rhodes, Rotary and many other fellowships and scholarships, not to mention graduate school applications -- even high-achieving students can feel dizzy and lost. At U of L they have the scholarship support office

.Stephanie Mattingly, a junior music major from Louisville, is contemplating some of those highly competitive applications and comments that "Searching for scholarships is difficult for students. There are so many out there and we don't know which are legitimate, much less prestigious. Dr. Condon pairs each student individually with the scholarships that best suit his/her plans for the future."

By early fall 2002 in the first rounds of scholarship applications Dr. Condon and countless faculty had provided assistance to two Rhodes, three Marshall, one Mitchell and eight Fulbright applicants.

All U of L students interested in applying for fellowships and scholarships are given support in their searches. In addition, the Overseers Scholars Development Program (OSDP) offers those who are willing to commit to extra work and activities outside of the classroom exceptional opportunities.

"Even high-achieving students
can feel dizzy and lost when applying for fellowships.
At U of L they have
"Dr. Pat" and OSDP." 

______________________________________________

OSDP applications are competitive. Among requirements are a 3.5 GPA, significant extracurricular activity, the initiative to learn independently and an interest in research.

Along the way, OSDP students have new and diverse experiences. Musicians tour the medical school, engineers attend opera, biology students find themselves in conversation with politicians and U of L trustees. Such activities are designed to help students develop the self-assurance and social presence necessary to thrive at the highly competitive level of prestigious national or international fellowships, scholarships and graduate or professional school applications.

During the 2001-2002 academic year, OSDP students met and dined with Janet Reno and attended Actors Theatre, Louisville Orchestra and Kentucky Opera productions. They toured Louisville hospitals, meeting and talking with Business School award-winning professors, the School of Medicine academic dean and others.

Sessions with U of L Business School Dean Robert Taylor offered OSDP students insights into leadership. In January they toured the visiting "Brush With History" exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery and discussed the collection during a catered dinner at the Speed Art Museum. At the end of the year, many OSDP students traveled to Greece with Dr. Condon, members of the Board of Trustees and President Shumaker.

Added to her OSDP and scholarship advisor responsibilities, Dr. Condon teaches Honors 215, "Renaissance Through Modern Art, Advanced Composition."

Dr. Condon, a graduate of the University of Louisville with an M.A. in art history, received her Ph.D. from Brown University as a specialist in 19th-century French art, with Renaissance art as a secondary field. Among her many credits are seven years of teaching art history at the University of Kentucky and two international art museum exhibitions she has curated. The "Dr. Pat" in her character comes out when asked what specifically should be included in the short description of her background. "Please say I've been teaching and mentoring students since 1978."