The Wells Scholarship

The Wells Scholarship | Curriculum | Extracurricular Programs | Housing | Achievements

Wells Scholars with a statue of Herman B Wells on the plaza named in his honor on the IU Bloomington Campus. Dream no small dreams. - Herman B Wells
Wells Scholars with a statue of Herman B Wells on the plaza named in his honor on the IU Bloomington Campus.  

The Wells Scholarship is named in honor of Herman B Wells (1902-2000), who devoted his extraordinary life to Indiana University. Dr. Wells came to IU as an undergraduate, returned as a faculty member, then served as a dean before rising to become president of the university. For more details about Dr. Wells, see In Honor of Herman B Wells.

Based solely on merit, the Wells Scholarship provides full tuition, mandatory and course-related fees, and a living stipend for four years of undergraduate study on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University. Scholars may choose to spend one of these years studying abroad through the university's overseas study programs. The Wells Scholars Program emphasizes close interaction with faculty; academic and career mentoring; opportunities for internships, research, and community service; a year-long freshman seminar; and frequent contact with distinguished visitors. Between 18 and 22 incoming freshmen receive the award each year. In addition, one to two current Indiana University Bloomington students are selected each year to join the junior or senior class of Scholars.

In order to maintain funding, a Wells Scholar is required to complete a minimum of 12 credit hours of course work each semester and to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.4. Scholars are also encouraged to participate in all aspects of the Wells Scholars Program, including extracurricular activities.

During their years at IU, Wells Scholars may apply to receive a one-time grant of $1,750 to pursue summer experiences that provide meaningful learning opportunities beyond the normal academic year. Examples of past summer experiences include serving with Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers to provide AIDS education and build a public library in western Kenya, interning at Fox 59 television's morning news show, conducting research at the National Institutes of Health, performing in the Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop, interning at the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and at the Canadian Parliament, participating in the Aspen Music Festival and Aspen Opera Theater, working as a financial analyst at the Motorola Company, and interning at the U.S. Supreme Court. Wells Scholars are also members of the Hutton Honors College, where they have the opportunity to apply for grants in support of research, teaching internships, professional experience, creative activity, conference travel, and honors thesis work.

For more information on the Hutton Honors College: http://www.indiana.edu/~iubhonor/.

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Wells Director Tim Londergan with Wells Scholars at the cornerstone dedication for Hutton Honors College, October 17, 2007.

Curriculum

Wells Scholars may major in any field offered at Indiana University. Each Scholar works with an Honors College advisor to design a course of study that takes into consideration the individual student's abilities, interests, and goals.

Freshman Scholars are required to enroll in a two-semester Wells seminar. During the year, Scholars read and discuss major works of the Western tradition, while developing intellectual and personal bonds with their classmates.

Wells Scholars also have the option of enrolling in other specially designed courses taught by distinguished campus visitors, as well as by IU faculty. Among the offerings have been courses on power, politics, and ethics with South African political leader, the Honorable Helen Suzman; on the literary exchanges between Europe and the United States with British writer Sir Malcolm Bradbury; on the beautiful and the sublime with then IU President Myles Brand and Professor of Philosophy Peg Brand; on the interpretation of culture with anthropologist Clifford Geertz; on heroes, history, and leaders with Kenneth Gros Louis, now University Chancellor; on mind games with New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz; on the theater of conscience with South African playwright Athol Fugard; on public ethics with IU Vice President for International Affairs Patrick O'Meara; on the involvement of ordinary people in extraordinary evil with Holocaust scholar Christopher Browning and then Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm; on international security issues in the 21st century with British international security expert Lord Timothy Garden and David Albright, senior fellow at the IU Center for the Study of Global Change; on contemporary art that challenges us with celebrated American artist Robert Colescott; and on popular music with noted musician and producer Todd Rundgren.

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South African playwright and recent Wells Professor Athol Fugard. The Class of 1943 Wells Professor Robert Colescott with students during a Hutton Honors College Master Class. New York Times crossword editor and Wells Professor Will Shortz (left) at a Wells event with Scholar Greg Williams.

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Extracurricular Programs for Wells Scholars

The Wells Scholars Program offers a variety of extracurricular activities on and off campus throughout the year that give Scholars the opportunity for informal interaction with distinguished visitors, with IU faculty, and with other students.

Events have included breakfasts with filmmaker Julie Dash, with psychiatrist and historian Robert Jay Lifton, and with then National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Bill Ivey; lunches with bioethicist William May, Nobel-Prize winning physicist and later U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, former astronaut and U.S. Senator Harrison H. "Jack" Schmitt, fomer CNN Toyko bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon, UN Human Rights Committee Member Ivan Shearer, editor and president of the The St. Petersburg Times Paul Tash, and Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Research; afternoon teas with former Chief Justice of Japan Shigemitsu Dando, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and then Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Alice Rivlin; suppers with Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby, Nigerian writer and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Batman producer Michael Uslan, cybersecurity expert Seymour Goodman, and award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones; and evening tea with Jetsun Pema, the "mother of Tibet" and younger sister of the Dalai Lama. Weekend workshops have addressed such topics as humanitarian intervention, religious liberty, genetics research, television violence, the American legal system, and healthcare reform.

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A Nobel Laureate in physics, Douglas Osheroff talks with Wells Scholars Brian Matzke and Grace Lin. Wells Scholars and students from the Hutton Honors College confer during a two-day workshop on the role and image of the United States abroad. Jetsun Pema, the sister of the Dalai Lama and the "mother of Tibet," visits with Scholar Kunal Desai and other students from the Hutton Honors College and the Wells Scholars Program.
Michael Uslan, IU Alumnus and executive producer of Batman Begins, with Wells Scholars and Batman fans at the Comics as Cultural Mythology exhibit at the Lilly Library. Award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones, co-founder and artistic director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, shown here with Wells Scholars and members of student organization ABE at IU.

Regularly occurring events include a fall cookout for all Scholars and a fall day trip and spring retreat for freshmen Scholars.

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English professor Ed Comentale (at left) and Wells Director Tim Londergan (center, back) with freshman Wells Scholars on a retreat to New Harmony, Indiana.
Scholars Camille Rice, Mark Johnson, and Laura Wallace at the annual cookout.
IU faculty member Nick Toth speaks with students about his work as co-director of the Stone Age Institute during a freshman fall day trip to the institute a few miles outside of Bloomington, Indiana.
Freshman Scholars with former Wells Director Scott Sanders (center, back) walk in the woods during a spring retreat in southern Indiana.
Freshmen Scholars at their class spring retreat in New Harmony, Indiana.
Juli Williams and Professor Emeritus James Ackerman on a walk during a freshman spring retreat. Scholars develop strong friendships with faculty and each other through the classes and extracurricular activities of the Wells program.

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Housing for Wells Scholars

Wells Scholars are expected to spend their first year in university housing. However, they are not restricted to a specific residence hall. Scholars who later choose to live off campus or in a sorority or fraternity will receive the same living stipend as Scholars who remain on campus.

For more information about housing, see Residential Programs & Services.

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Achievements by Wells Scholars

Wells Scholars have had a strong impact on the IU and Bloomington communities. They can be seen performing in operas, theatre productions, concerts, and recitals and competing in varsity and intramural sports and on the IU Speech, College Bowl, and Ethics Bowl teams. They have sought out leadership positions in student publications, student government, the Marching 100, and service and professional organizations. Since the beginning of the program, Scholars have volunteered at places such as Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, the Community Kitchen, Middle Way House, and the Boys and Girls Club. In 1997, Scholars founded WAVE, the Wells Activism and Volunteer Effort, to encourage even more service work by Scholars in the Bloomington community. Many Scholars have won campus-wide honors, such as the Wells and the Stahr Distinguished Senior awards, and prestigious awards for graduate study, such as the Rhodes, Truman, Marshall, Goldwater, Mitchell, Rotary, and Churchill scholarships, the Fulbright Grant, and the Ford and Mellon Fellowships. Wells Scholar alumni can be found throughout the United States and overseas studying or working in medicine, law, education, business, the sciences, the arts, and the humanities.

This video, created by Wells alumnus Jake Sherry, details the opportunities that await you at Indiana University.

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