ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio University senior Margaux Cowden of Akron, Ohio, received The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies, which is awarded to help exceptionally promising first-year doctoral students prepare for careers in teaching and scholarship in the humanities.

"This is a great tribute to Margaux, a great tribute to the faculty with whom she has studied and a great tribute to the university that helped her prepare for this award competition," said Ohio University Provost Sharon Brehm.

Cowden is one of 85 students nationally to receive the Mellon Fellowship, which covers graduate tuition and fees for the first academic year and provides a $17,500 stipend. She plans to pursue a doctorate in English at the University of California at Irvine in the fall.

An Honors Tutorial College student majoring in English, Cowden is enrolled in a specialized program that combines individual tutoring sessions with regular coursework that leads to a bachelor's degree in a student's chosen major. Established to provide high-ability students with a challenging academic program that stimulates rapid and intense intellectual growth, Ohio University has one of the only degree-granting honors programs in the country.

"I am very proud of her and her stunning achievement, and I am thrilled that the Mellon Fellowship Awards Selection Committee recognized Margaux's exceptional intellectual sophistication on a national level," said Kasia Marciniak, Cowden's faculty mentor and an assistant professor of English.