Named scholarships & funds
When it comes to earning a college degree, the greatest obstacle can be funding.
For this reason, The University of Akron is pleased for the opportunity each year to assist talented, deserving students achieve their dreams, thanks to more than 1,300 named scholarships established through the kindness and generosity of thousands of °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ alumni and friends, corporations, and foundations.
Scholarships truly are the best way to ensure that today’s students persist to graduation. Scholarships allow students to enroll full time and remain focused on their studies; they also reduce drop-out rates, decrease the stress of student loans, and shorten the road to graduation.
If you are interested in making a significant contribution to student success, please consider a gift to scholarships. You may also establish a named scholarship at The University of Akron, which can be created to honor a living person, in memory of a loved one, or to contribute to the growth of an area of study.
To learn more, please contact the Department of Development at 330-972-7238.
How do I apply for a scholarship?
This is not the page to apply for scholarships.
Students who want to apply for scholarships should visit the scholarship page on the Financial Aid site. You can find the link for the online application here.
The Department of Development does not accept applications for or distribute scholarships. Scholarships are distributed through the University’s Office of Student Financial Aid.
Search for a Named Scholarship
Baranowski, Edwin Michael and Shelley Osmun Endowed Scholarship for History
The Edwin Michael and Shelley Osmun Baranowski Endowed Scholarship for History was established in 2019 in loving tribute to Shelley's husband, Ed, who passed away on July 23, 2015. Also, it is established in recognition of the vital research funding Shelley received while teaching in The University of Akron's Department of History.
Born and raised in Utica, NY, Ed received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968 from Hamilton College and his juris doctorate degree in 1971 from The University of Virginia School of Law. Ed attained a national reputation as an intellectual property law attorney, initially at the New York City law firm of Kenyon and Kenyon and later, as a partner at Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur in Columbus, Ohio. Listed among the top 100 lawyers In the U.S. in his field for several years, Ed was also an accomplished painter, sculptor and craftsman who loved gadgets and computers before they became mass market items.
Shelley received her Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University in 1980 and taught history at Kenyon College from 1985-1989, and at The University of Akron from 1989 until her 2013 retirement. She received two summer study-abroad fellowships from The University of Akron Research Committee and research stipends from °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ's Department of History. She was also the recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities grants, the first of which led to The Sanctity of Rural Life: Nobility, Protestantism and Nazism in Weimar Prussia (Oxford: Oxord University Press, 1995). Continued support of research stipends from the Department of History and a second grant for University Teachers from the National Endowment for the Humanities ultimately led to two acclaimed book publications by Cambridge University Press: Strength Through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich in 2004, and Nazi Empire: German Imperialism and Colonialism from Bismarck to Hitler in 2011. In addition to other scholarly books and publications, Shelley served on the advisory editorial board of H-German and co-edited H-Travel with Bertram Gordon.
The Edwin Michael and Shelley Osmun Baranowski Endowed Scholarship for History will provide scholarship assistance to deserving students who are majoring or minoring in History. Scholarship award decisions will be made by the Department of History's Scholarship Committee.
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