Scholarships and Awards

Each year, the Department of English at Western Michigan University bestows the following scholarships and awards at its annual Student Award Ceremony in March.

Presidential Scholar Award

This is the highest academic honor that WMU bestows on its undergraduate students. Each department selects only one student each year for this prestigious award. Our department provides a $1,000 scholarship.  

English Department Scholarship

This $1,000 scholarship recognizes high-performing undergraduate students who have done truly outstanding work as English majors. 

Bernadine P. Carlson Professional Writing Award

This $1,000 award is given for outstanding work in our Rhetoric and Writing Studies courses. 

Gwen Frostic Creative Writing Awards

Named for a distinguished artist, poet, and naturalist who earned her bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University in 1929, these $1,000 awards are given to outstanding undergraduate and graduate students in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and playwriting.  

Edward Galligan Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship is given each year to an undergraduate or graduate student who shows great achievement and promise in the study of American Literature. 

Jean and Vincent Malmstrom Scholarship

This $1,000 scholarship is given for excellence in the study of language and linguistics.

Frederick J. Rogers Memorial Shakespeare Award

This $1,000 award is given for the best undergraduate or graduate essays on a topic related to Shakespeare. 

Antonia H. Rostami Scholarship

This scholarship for students with financial need is in memory of Antonia H. Rostami, a career educator whose lifetime of work in Kalamazoo and beyond was dedicated to serving students. Rostami scholarships range from $1,000 to $2,500.