Political Science has a number of funds to support the students and vision of the department into the future. Giving to the following funds will aid the department in development, student travel, scholarships, research grants, publications, and other areas so that we can remain strong and provide the same opportunities for future students that we have in the past. We appreciate all donations to our Department.
If you would like to create your own fund for the Department please feel free to contact Department Chair Greg Caldeira.
Political Science Advancement Fund
The Political Science Advancement Fund supports advancements in the field and in the department.
Study Abroad Fund
One of the amazing opportunities our students have available to them is study abroad. In order to help ensure this experience for students, the Study Abroad Fund helps to provide support for travel and research in other countries around the world.
Lawrence J.R. Herson Fund
The Lawrence J.R. Herson Fund enhances the academic goals of the department and promotes scholarly excellence among political science majors. The fund was established on May 7, 1999, by the Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University with gifts to The Ohio State University Development Fund from alumni, friends and associates of Professor J.R. Herson, in honor of his long and distinguished career in the Department of Political Science, on the occasion of his retirement from the University.
Political Science Development Fund
The Political Science Development Fund supports teaching, research, faculty, travel, student aid, public service, publications, and other similar programs.
Randall Ripley Fund
The Randall Ripley Fund promotes the academic goals of the department by supporting graduate student research in American politics, including a focus on Canada. The Randall Ripley fund will be used to support graduate students in the department of Political Science. This kind of support is critical to our ability to attract the best and brightest graduate students.
Rip came to Ohio State in 1967 from Washington, D.C., where he was a fellow at the Brookings Institution and interned in the Majority Whip’s Office of the U.S. House of Representatives. Many of us first met him while working on his major research project on the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) – or during his amazing 34 years at Ohio State as Chair of the Department of Political Science and Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences in which he established the Department and then the College as nationally recognized leaders in their fields. Through these years, he taught, prodded, and led us with boundless energy. Rip’s official retirement from Ohio State in 2005 has allowed him to transfer his passion to teaching Canadian politics and practicing practical politics in Pataskala, Ohio when not he is not rooting for his Cleveland Indians or quoting the bard.
Madison H. Scott Fund
The Madison H. Scott Fund is dedicated to promoting the education of minority students in the department. The latest recipient is Nyron Crawford and he has been utilizing the fund to advance his dissertation research through conducting CSLS surveys. Crawford explains, “The Community Satisfaction and Leadership Study (CSLS) is a survey-based experiment designed to understand how attributions of blame/responsibility and negative emotions affect the political judgments, evaluations, and voting behavior of African Americans. With the support of the Madison Scott Grant, this project has been able to incentivize and subsequently increase the number of African American participants, a population that is otherwise underrepresented in most research samples."
Brice Acree Memorial Fund
Donations to the Brice Acree Memorial Fund will go to memorialize Professor Brice Acree with a plaque on a tree on campus and that any additional funds will be used to sponsor students’ participation in hackathon on the theme of “Mental Health at OSU” to be held in the Spring, the proceeds of which will go as donations to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. If funds allow, the hope is to establish a scholarship as well. Below, there are instructions on how to give to the Brice Acree Memorial Fund.
