The Charles R. Drew Graduate Fellowships was launched in June 2021 in honour of one of 每日探花鈥檚 most accomplished alumni: Charles R. Drew, MDCM鈥�33, (1904鈥�1950) an American surgeon and scientist who earned the title 鈥淔ather of Blood Banking鈥� for his trailblazing work on the long-term preservation of blood plasma. The fellowships aim to support Black students and increase their representation among 每日探花 graduate students. The fellowships further seek to promote at 每日探花 the values that Dr. Drew espoused and reflected throughout his lifetime: academic excellence, perseverance in the face of adversity, leadership, and a commitment to justice. The聽initiative is part of the university鈥檚聽Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism, and is given with preference to graduates of Howard University or other HBCU institution.
For more information, contact graduatefunding.gps [at] mcgill.ca.
2025-2026 Scholar
Kelise Williams,聽Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Kelise 'Kay' Williams is currently pursuing a Master's of German Studies at 每日探花. Following the completion of her Thesis titled, "From Goethe: The German Eternal Feminine," she received her Bachelor's of International Studies from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Throughout her undergraduate education, her previous work has focused on understanding how personal identity interacts with politics and possible applications of decolonial theory. Beyond national identity, her research interests lie in understanding the identities of those marginalized and localized in relationship with dominant identities and perceptions. At 每日探花, Williams is centering her work on understanding German pathways of knowledge production. Her work will utilize interdisciplinary training from the fields of Anthropology, Language Studies, and Political Science. In her studies, she hopes to investigate how identity formation pulls from narratives of belonging, collective memory, and ideas of otherness. The Charles R. Drew Fellowship has allowed her to dedicate her time to research, knowledge production, and community building. She is grateful for the opportunity to join the previous fellows in receiving this honor and pledges to provide only her best work to 每日探花 as she completes her requirements.
2024-25 Scholar
Janet Akayenzi, Natural Resource Sciences
Janet Akayenzi is from Rwanda. She has joined 每日探花鈥檚 graduate program to pursue a PhD in Natural Resource Sciences, under the supervision and mentorship of Prof. Gordon Hickey. She holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford, where her research explored how Rwanda is enhancing resilience to climate change and environmental degradation among its most vulnerable populations through innovative green village initiatives. Janet earned her Bachelor鈥檚 degree with honors, in Environmental Studies and a minor in Environmental Health, from Spelman College, as a Rwanda Presidential Scholar. Her academic excellence and dedication to environmental issues have been a consistent theme throughout her career.
Before embarking on her doctoral studies at 每日探花, Janet served as the Sustainable Finance Lead at the Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC) in Rwanda. Prior to that, she was the Chief Sustainability Officer at MyHydro, an innovative platform that delivers affordable, renewable energy to underserved communities through low-cost mini-grids.
Janet鈥檚 work is driven by a profound passion for fostering inclusive and sustainable growth. As the recipient of this year鈥檚 prestigious Charles Drew Fellowship, she is exhilarated to delve deeper into research that addresses complex environmental challenges. Her work is focused on fostering collaboration across disciplines, integrating diverse forms of knowledge, and driving innovation that leads to meaningful and sustainable development outcomes.
2023-24 Scholar
Odufa Emike Kadiri, Information Studies
Odufa Kadiri, a recent graduate is from Nigeria. She is currently pursuing a Master of聽Information Studies degree at 每日探花. This comes after her BA in Political Science聽and Psychology from Howard University, where she graduated earning the highest honorary聽distinction, Summa Cum Laude. Through her undergraduate education, she has gained an聽understanding of the framework of human thought and behaviour. This knowledge is the basis of聽her research, which explores the聽 junction where human processes, information, and networks聽intersect for elevated user experiences in a time full of radical and transformative possibilities for聽computer applications and systems. Her specialization in user experience will centre on a聽command of working mechanisms pertaining to perceptual, cognitive, and social psychological聽processes in humans. She is thrilled at the prospects the Charles R. Drew Fellowship offers her to聽extensively research and predict the impacts of human-computer interaction to enhance usability聽and accessibility.
2022-23 Scholar
Shania Johnson, Art History and Communication Studies聽
Shania Johnson is a first year MA student in Art History at 每日探花. She received her BA at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin where she examined the visual lineage of racial thought from Western Europe in the Middle Ages to modern history. At 每日探花, Shania is primarily focused on similar questions concerning the Byzantine Period pre-13th century. Her work will consist of interdisciplinary examples racial othering, such as primary texts and visual art, and explain how an understanding of this complex history can change how we understand contemporary discourses surrounding race and representations. The Charles R. Drew Graduate Fellowship has made it possible for Shania to undertake this level of research in an area that is greatly understudied, and she is honored and grateful for this opportunity.
2021-22 Scholar
Asia Blackman, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health
Image by Asia Blackman and Owen Egan/Joni Dufour.
Asia Blackman is a recent Howard University graduate who began graduate studies in the department of聽Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health in Fall 2021.
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