TIAA established the Ruth Simms Hamilton Research Fellowship at TIAA-CREF in 2005 to honor the memory and life's work of Dr. Ruth Simms Hamilton ("Dr. Hamilton"), a former professor at MSU and member of the TIAA Board of Trustees. Dr. Hamilton's 35-year-long career at MSU included appointments in the Department of Sociology, the African Studies Center, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Center for Advanced Study of International Development. She was an early pioneer of research concerning the African Diaspora, the dispersion and settlement of African people after leaving the African continent. Dr. Hamilton was a valued member of the TIAA Board of Trustees from 1989 to 2003, serving on the Board's Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committees from 1990 to 2003, as well as the Board's Executive Committee.

The creation of the TIAA Ruth Simms Hamilton Graduate Merit Fellowship at MSU is a natural and appropriate step to ensure continued recognition of Dr. Hamilton. It will provide fellowships for future graduate students whose scholarly work honors the high standards Dr. Hamilton set.

More information and an application are available at: https://grad.msu.edu/fellowships/tiaa