GVSU announces Mawby Fellowships in Philanthropic Studies

Faculty and students at Grand Valley State University will conduct applied research in philanthropy with the establishment of the Russell G. Mawby Fellowships at Grand Valley's Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership.

Over the next five years, gifts totaling $150,000 will create the Mawby Fellowships in Philanthropic Studies. Each year it will allow one faculty member and two undergraduate students to be named as Mawby Fellows. They will be able to conduct research, present at professional meetings and publish findings for the benefit of the field.

“We are very proud to be chosen as the recipient of this precedent-setting fellowship program,” said Kathy Agard, executive director of the Johnson Center. “Russ Mawby is a giant in American philanthropy, and the Johnson Center is honored to be entrusted with this important piece of his philanthropic legacy.”

Mawby was honored at a luncheon ceremony June 6 at Grand Valley State University where Ken Gladish, distinguished professor of Nonprofit Studies and director of the Grantmaking School at the Johnson Center, was named as the first Mawby Faculty Fellow.

“Russ Mawby’s wonderful and path-breaking gift will make a unique contribution to building a partnership between leading scholar practitioners and our best students at Grand Valley,” Gladish said. “It will be an exciting adventure to be the first Mawby Faculty Fellow and to break new ground at the Johnson center.”

Mawby has earned a global reputation as an effective visionary leader in philanthropy. His quarter-century stewardship of one of the world’s largest grantmaking institutions, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, was marked by creativity in programming including opportunities for youth and leadership in the field of philanthropy. He actively continues as a volunteer to provide leadership, advice and counsel to major philanthropic efforts launched during his tenure and to new ventures, as well.

He has degrees in horticulture and agricultural economics from Michigan State University and Purdue University. He served on the faculties of both institutions.

Mawby’s leadership in the field of philanthropy has been recognized and honored in many ways. He has served on the boards of the Kellogg Company, the J.M. Smucker Company, Michigan State University, Starr Commonwealth, the Battle Creek Community Foundation and Michigan’s Children. His contributions to dozens of professions have been recognized by 20 universities that have awarded him honorary doctorates, including honorary doctorate of humanities in 1988 from Grand Valley State University.