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Who Should Apply?

The program seeks mid-career individuals who have made significant contributions to the city and who reflect its diversity. Fellows are required to demonstrate intellectual interest and the capacity to benefit from the University’s teaching and research resources. However, there are no educational prerequisites for a Revson Fellowship. The program welcomes Fellows without previous academic credentials as well as those holding undergraduate and advanced degrees.

Fellows must also be able to fulfill the requirements of the fellowship, including having the ability to significantly reduce professional commitments to spend three days per week on Columbia University’s campus.

Former Fellows are leaders in a variety of fields. They are grassroots activists, community organizers, non-profit leaders, foundation officers, politicians, firefighters, lawyers, artists, writers, journalists, religious leaders, and educators. The list of Fellows and alumni provide a catalogue of all former and current Fellows and their titles and affiliations at the time of their Revson year.

Successful past applicants have included:

• Founder of a community credit union who developed innovative ways for people in low-income communities to harness their own financial capital.
• Photographer whose uses time-lapse photography to document the deterioration of urban architecture.
• Co-founder of an organization that provides advocacy and training for immigrants threatened with deportation.
• Mother without a college education who developed an effective program of guidance and service for single parents.
• Documentary filmmaker whose films examine aspects of Korean-American history, politics, and heritage.
• Teacher in a prison literacy program.
• Research economist working with a municipal trade union.
• Founder of a historical preservation organization.
• Journalist who writes on Latino politics and culture