Secretary of Education Richard Riley appointed College President James Freedman in September to the board of a federal program that doles out more than $8 million in educational fellowships each year.
Freedman was picked to serve on the board of the Jacob K. Javits fellowship program, which provides financial assistance to about 130 students across the nation who want to study at the doctorate level in fields of the arts, humanities and social sciences, Freedman said.
"I'm very excited for the opportunity to render a modest amount of public service to something I'm obviously very committed to," Freedman said.
The program gives students up to $14,000 a year for four years along with $9,000 toward tuition at the students' institutions.
Freedman said he is not sure how he got the appointment. "I guess somewhere in President Clinton's computer bank there's a little note next to my name saying 'higher education,'" he said.
Freedman was in Washington, D.C. last week for the board's fall meeting. He is one of seven new appointees to the nine-member committee.
"There's a real sense of excitement and commitment on the part of the nine members," Freedman said.
The board meets once in the fall and once in the spring. "Our function is to set policy and to set general regulations," he said.
Freedman said he does not directly help choose recipients of the fellowship. "We appoint panels of scholars and experts who select the recipients," he said.
Applications for the fellowships are accepted from both undergraduate and graduate students, Freedman said.
"I certainly hope Dartmouth students can take advantage of this," he said.
Associate Director of Career Services Susan Wright said several Dartmouth students applied for a fellowship last year, and one student, Susan Chimonas '93, received one.
Chimonas is now studying sociology at the University of Michigan.
