J. Parker and Kathryn Webb Dinius Fellowship

Generous donors established the J. Parker and Kathryn Webb Dinius Fellowship Fund to support students with undergraduate varsity athletic experience who plan to pursue or who are pursuing a graduate degree at Ohio State.

Preference is given to students who earned an undergraduate varsity letter at Ohio State, with priority given to football players.

The Dinius Fellowship is only offered when sufficient funds are available.  The Dinius Fellowship competition is accepting applications in the 2025-2026 fellowship cycle.  

Students with undergraduate varsity athletic experience pursuing study in graduate degree programs in the Graduate School or graduate degree programs in the colleges of Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Optometry, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine are eligible for consideration. Incoming graduate students must meet the minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA for the Dinius Fellowship (3.0).

Prospective students ineligible for fellowship consideration include the following:

• A student who has not been admitted to the Ohio State Graduate School
• A student with an incomplete set of fellowship application materials
• A student who has been admitted conditionally (Graduate School Handbook 2.6)
• A student who will be enrolled in a professional degree program (e.g., Medicine, Law)
• A student who is enrolled in a combined bachelor’s/Master’s Program

• Academic program coordinators and/or other program nominators must nominate prospective students in GradAwards for the Dinius Fellowship competition.
• Assemble the nominee’s nomination packet and upload to GradAwards, including:
  • Applicant’s admission application to Graduate School, including:
    • Applicant’s statement of purpose
    • Applicant’s resume/CV
    • Three letters of recommendation
  • A letter of support from the undergraduate Head Coach of the sport in which the varsity letter was earned or the appropriate athletics representative
    • Letter should include the sport in which the varsity letter was earned and the years in which the nominee participated in this sport at the varsity level.
  • A letter of support from the nominating program's Graduate Studies Chair
  • A letter of support from the applicant’s current Head Coach if the student will continue to participate in athletics while receiving fellowship support (only required if student is planning to participate in athletics while on fellowship)
    • If the applicant will be participating in athletics while on fellowship support, the Head Coach's letter must outline any financial support the student is receiving from Athletics.

Application deadline: April 9, 2026, at 5 pm

• Awards are announced in late April to mid-May.

The Graduate School reserves the right to terminate fellowship support before the end of the award period if conditions of the fellowship are not maintained. Any exceptions to the following requirements must be requested in writing by the Graduate Studies Chair of the fellow’s graduate program to the Graduate School.

• Fellowship students must be in attendance on the Columbus campus and be pursuing a graduate degree in the program specified in the fellowship award letter from the Dean of the Graduate School.
• Pre-candidacy doctoral fellows must register for a minimum of 12 graduate credit hours during autumn and spring semesters and 6 credit hours during the summer term. Post-candidacy fellows must enroll for only 3 credit hours each semester, including summer. Fellows must maintain good academic standing in the Graduate School and make reasonable progress toward the graduate degree.
• Fellows are expected to abide by the professional codes of ethics and responsibilities of the university and those commonly accepted in the fellow’s field of study. These codes include but are not limited to the Graduate Student Code of Research and Scholarly Conduct and the Code of Student Conduct.
• See Graduate Fellowship Eligibility in the Graduate School Handbook Section 10.2. Fellowships provide a competitive stipend and fee authorization for the full-time effort of the graduate student toward requirement for their degree. As stated in the Graduate School handbook, Graduate School fellows must hold no other appointment or outside employment during the term of appointment. Supplemental pay to further increase the stipend support of Graduate School fellows is permitted. The Graduate School supports GTA, GRA, and employment experiences occurring during intervening years.