The Brennan Awards were named after Dean Donald Brennan, PhD. Dr. Brennan was dean of the Graduate School at Saint Louis University from 1989 until its dissolution in 2010. Dr. Brennan, a SLU alumnus, played on the men’s soccer team (1964-66) while an undergraduate. In 1998 he was inducted into the Billiken Hall of Fame for athletics as a Distinguished Alum. Dr. Brennan received his Master’s degree in Communication Disorders from SLU, and later went on to receive his doctorate from the University of Oklahoma’s Medical Center.
Dr. Donald Brennan (Don) was beloved by all who knew him. He was a dad to four girls, whom he loved deeply and was very proud of. He enjoyed tapping into his Irish heritage, and his favorite activity outside of work was gardening. Don was admired and loved by all who worked with him. He was a faculty member in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department (formally known as Speech-Language Pathology) before becoming dean. He had a great sense of humor, was very productive, and worked well with challenging SLU upper administrators.
Dr. Brennan passed away in 2011 from cancer. His widow, Martha (Marty) Brennan, who was also a faculty member in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department, other family members, and former co-workers put together the Donald G. Brennan Scholarship Fund in 2012. The fund was aimed at helping graduate students who were considered first-generation college students during undergraduate education and who champion diversity and social justice. In a similar vein, the Graduate Student Association started the Brennan Awards shortly after. The aims of the Brennan Awards are outlined below.
More information about Dean Donald Brennan, PhD can be found here.
The Brennan Fellowship Awards aims to provide students with summer supplementary support. There are two types of awards: Exam Preparation Awards and Master’s Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Awards. All awards will require the listing of any and all alternative sources of funding, which will be taken into consideration by the GSA Awards Committee. Falsification of or failure to disclose this information will result in revocation of this award. Each type of award may be received only once during a student's academic career at Saint Louis University. Eligibility for funding requires that you must not have previously received either type of Brennan Summer Fellowship Award, which will be verified with the Office of Student Financial Services (i.e., recipients of the Exam Preparation Award are not eligible for the Thesis or Dissertation Research Award in subsequent years). Applications will open on February 3rd, 2025, and are due no later than March 10th, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
Exam Preparation
Amount: Up to $500
Number given: Up to 4 per year (2 awards to MA/PhD students in health sciences programs who are taking professional / certification exams; 2 awards to MA/PhD students taking comprehensive/ qualifying exams). Applications are due Sunday, March 10, 2025, no later than 11:59 p.m.
To receive the exam preparation award, the graduate student must plan to take all written and oral comprehensive exams in the next academic year (the summer, fall, or spring terms following the award). The applicant must provide verification from their advisor or exam chairs stating that the student is preparing for exams and that all prerequisite conditions are on target for being met in that timeline. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Requests for this exception should be addressed to GSA Brennan Awards Chairs (gsa.brennan@slu.edu) NO LATER THAN February 23, 2025.
Applicants must demonstrate how the award would facilitate their comprehensive exam preparation in a manner that could not be met through another funding source, such as employment or an existing scholarship, fellowship, or assistantship. Additionally, applicants will be asked to describe the comprehensive exam process in their respective departments.
Master's Thesis & Doctoral Dissertation
Amount: Up to $1000 for master's thesis and dissertation
Number given: Up to 7 per year. Applications are due Sunday, March 10, 2025 no later than 11:59 p.m.
Dissertation and Thesis Awards are given to graduate students conducting research for their master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. To receive this award, the applicant must have advanced to candidacy and completed all degree prerequisites prior to the application deadline. The applicant must provide verification from the department chair stating that the student has passed all comprehensive exams and that the thesis or dissertation committee has approved the thesis or dissertation proposal. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Requests for this exception should be addressed to GSA Brennan Awards Chairs (gsa.brennan@slu.edu) NO LATER THAN February 23, 2024.
The monetary award is to cover research and writing expenses for the summer months (May - August) of the application year only. Applicants should demonstrate how the award would facilitate their projects in a manner that could not be met through another funding source, such as a scholarship, existing fellowship, or assistantship. The clarity of research goals, as well as the intellectual merit and broader impact of the project, will be considered by an interdisciplinary Awards Committee. This is not an award intended for those still formulating their research proposals but rather for those in the midst of their research.
To complete the 2025 GSA Brennan Fellowship Master's Thesis or Dissertation OR Exam Preparation Award application, follow these instructions:
1. Complete the appropriate application, both of which require a signature from your department chair certifying either that:
You have completed the coursework for your degree and are scheduled to take all written and oral comprehensive exams; or
You have advanced to candidacy and completed all degree prerequisites prior to the application deadline (thesis/dissertation award). This additional document must be uploaded as part of the application.
The Exam Preparation Award application may be found HERE.
The Thesis / Dissertation Research Award application may be found HERE.
Be sure to download each file by going to File > Download As > Microsoft Word (.docx).
2. Upload the application as a PDF document to this Google form. If you are having trouble accessing the form, log into MySLU first, click on Tools, click on Google Drive, then come back to this page and click on our link.
The following graduate programs are ineligible for Brennan Awards:
All programs in the School for Professional Studies
All programs in the School of Social Work (other than PhD students)
All programs in the Chaifetz School of Business (other than PhD students)
In addition, faculty and staff members of SLU who are also graduate students are only eligible for funding if they pay the Graduate Student Activities Fee each semester.
For more information, please contact the Brennan Awards Committee at gsa.brennan@slu.edu.