Scholarships

Establish a Scholarship

If you would like to establish a new scholarship, please contact:

Yohannes Haile-Selassie, IHO Director
yhaileselassie@asu.edu or 480.727.6582

Jennifer Marsteen, Executive Director of Development 
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Jennifer.Marsteen@asu.edu or 480.965.7546


Contribute to an Existing Scholarship

The Institute of Human Origins has several scholarships to support both undergraduate and graduate student research.

Student research is the life-blood of a thriving academic-research enterprise.

But competition to attract the best students is fierce, and institutional recruitment funding is limited due to decreasing state and federal funding. To maintain our leading position in the annual competition for the best and the brightest graduate student candidates, IHO relies more than ever on private philanthropy and the vision of donors who understand that IHO’s leadership in human origins science depends on the financial security of our graduate-student training program.

IHO funding for these students focuses on critical periods in their training: at the beginning, when early progress and peak performance establish the trajectory for success, and during their doctoral research, which often takes them overseas to museums or remote field sites when the pressure is intense to jump-start their own careers.

For undergraduate students intent on a research project, there are few resources available. The Donald Johanson research scholarship provides students the ability to further their research goals.

The continued success of IHO research and its ability to support the best students in the world depends on the continued support of dedicated donors who understand that their investment in IHO will always produce excellent and tangible results.

IHO Research Scholarships include

The Elizabeth H. Harmon Research Endowment—established by her parents, Frank and Judy Harmon. The scholarship is a memorial to Elizabeth who received her PhD from ASU in 2005 and had begun a successful scientific career at CUNY Hunter College but passed away in 2009. 

The Donald C. Johanson Paleoanthropological Research Endowment was established by IHO Founding Director Don Johanson to inspire and contribute to training the next generation of human origins researchers. 

The Bill Kimbel Impact Fund was established by Kimbel's friends and colleagues upon his passing in 2022. The fund will support an annual lecture series in his name and, in the future as the endowment grows, support graduate student scholarships and research.

The Kaye Reed Scholarship Endowment has not yet reached its funding goal of $25,000.00 to establish a long-term funding resource to support undergraduate and graduate women in science and contribute to a shift towards the gender equity needed in the research community. We need your help to reach our goal of funding a robust endowment and achieving a long-term objective of $100,000 to establish a scholarship that will have a significant impact on student success in IHO.

To make a contribution to one of the funds above, click the link in the scholarship name.  To make a donation to the Institute of Human Origins general fund, which supports student scholarships, research, and education outreach, visit the ASU Foundation website for the Institute of Human Origins.


Students interested in applying for the Harmon, Johanson, or Kimbel scholarships must be IHO-affiliated doctoral or undergraduate students. A call for applications will go out to students in the spring semester of each year. Contact Lindsay Mullen (lindsay.mullen@asu.edu) for application dates and details.