Public Service Awards

The Graduate School Public Service Awards recognize the accomplishments of Yale graduate students engaged in outreach and service to the broader community, both locally and globally. The Graduate School confers the awards each year at Convocation.

The Graduate School Public Scholar Award recognizes research and activism conducted by a Yale graduate student who engages and betters the world at large. Public Scholar Award winners are involved in activism, public policy making, and/or in public discourse based upon their research. Their academic work is motivated by a broad concern for public welfare and their research directly and concretely serves society.  They also engage in outreach to inform the public about their research or to encourage policy makers to consider the findings. Turning research into public advocacy, activism and social change is the basis for this award.

The Graduate School Disciplinary Outreach Service Award recognizes a graduate school student who uses specific knowledge of their own discipline as the basis for voluntary service in the local community.  Making knowledge and skills from one’s discipline relevant and useful to those in need in the community is the hallmark of this award.

The Graduate School Community Service Award honors a graduate student for volunteer work in the local community while enrolled at Yale. Community Service Award winners are dedicated and effective agents for positive change who volunteer with local community organizations, encourage other students to do the same, and may even have started a non-profit or charity. The community service need not be directly related to the student’s academic work. Committed, sustained service to those in need is the benchmark for this award.