PASADENA—The Fletcher Jones Foundation has established the Chauncey Medberry Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund at the California Institute of Technology with a $600,000 grant. The endowed fellowship honors Chauncey Medberry, who served on the boards of both the Fletcher Jones Foundation and Caltech.
The support provided by the Medberry fellowship will allow its recipients to concentrate on the primary goal of their education and to establish themselves as independent scientific investigators and educators. One or more graduate students will be named annually.
Medberry joined the Caltech board in 1976 and served until his death in December 1997. He served on several committees and was an advocate for and a contributor to Caltech's educational and research missions.
The Fletcher Jones Foundation was founded in 1969 by Fletcher Jones, a man of unique talents, generosity, and foresight. As the cofounder of Computer Sciences Corporation and as its chairman and chief executive officer, he guided and stimulated it to leadership in the then innovative field of software computer services.
Founded in 1891, Caltech has an enrollment of some 2,000 students, and a faculty of about 280 professorial faculty and 130 research faculty. The Institute has more than 19,000 alumni. Caltech employs a staff of more than 1,700 on campus and 5,300 at JPL.
Over the years, 26 Nobel Prizes and four Crafoord Prizes have been awarded to faculty members and alumni. Forty-three Caltech faculty members and alumni have received the National Medal of Science; and eight alumni (two of whom are also trustees), two additional trustees, and one faculty member have won the National Medal of Technology. Since 1958, 13 faculty members have received the annual California Scientist of the Year award. On the Caltech faculty there are 75 fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and on the faculty and Board of Trustees, 68 members of the National Academy of Sciences and 46 members of the National Academy of Engineering.
Written by Sue McHugh