Pearson receives first Sweat award
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The inaugural Dan E. Sweat Dissertation Fellowship was awarded in October to A. Fiona Pearson (right), a graduate student in sociology.

The $5,000 fellowship is sponsored by the Dan E. Sweat Distinguished Scholar Chair in Educational and Community Policy. It is open to doctoral students at Georgia State University who are writing dissertations in community or educational policy.

Pearson's dissertation topic is “Making Education Work: The Experiences of Georgia Welfare Recipients Pursuing a Postsecondary Education.” Professor David Sjoquist, holder of the Sweat Chair and director of the Fiscal Research Center, says that the fellowship evaluation committee felt Pearson’s topic was important, interesting and likely to be controversial. “We liked the motivation for her research as well as the policy implications,” he says. “We believe her topic is in keeping with the policy issues that were of concern to Dan Sweat.”

The fellowship is awarded annually. A copy of the application form is available online at frp.aysps.gsu.edu/application_form.pdf.