A History of the Delta Gamma Foundation Memorial Fellowship

The Delta Gamma Foundation Memorial Fellowship Program 

As the Delta Gamma Foundation celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2026, we are highlighting the history of the Foundation and its incredible impact on the Do Good Sisterhood through Individual Member Support, Training and Programming, and Service for Sight.  

Part of this history is the Memorial Fellowship program, which honors those members whose legacy of leadership in Delta Gamma is exemplary, distinctive and remarkable. In the year after her death, a deserving alumna is awarded a graduate fellowship in the honoree’s memory. This award serves as one way to memorialize the wonderful contributions of the honoree to Delta Gamma and to pay forward that legacy through academic support for alumnae pursuing graduate or professional studies. While this distinction is one of the Foundation’s highest honors, the tradition of this award dates back even before the Delta Gamma Foundation existed! 

Delta Gamma has been memorializing members in this way since 1924, we believe. Anna Boyd Ellington, Psi-Lewis School, one of Delta Gamma’s three Founders, was the first honoree of this type of award. And although there was no “official” program at that time, the spirit of this sentiment has carried on for the last hundred years to this year’s honoree, the late Barbara Bartlett Probst, Gamma Upsilon-Wichita State.

The first award given under the name “Memorial” was in 1940 in honor of the late Grace Abbott, Kappa-Nebraska, for studies in the field of social work, to continue Grace’s legacy in social and charitable work as the director of the U.S. Children’s Bureau from 1921-34, making her the highest female member of government at the time. She was also the first American sent to represent the United States at the League of Nations.  

In 1951, the Delta Gamma Foundation was established and these awards were moved under the Foundation. They have been awarded by the Foundation Board of Trustees ever since.

Today, graduate fellowship award recipients are selected during the fellowship/scholarship application and awarding process in the spring. Recipients are notified of the significance of this fellowship, along with a narrative about the Memorial Fellowship honoree.  

Other notable honorees include George Banta in 1957, Roberta Abernathy, Epsilon-Ohio State in 1987, and Sarah Tilghman Hughes, Psi (II)-Goucher in 1993. 

The long-term impact of these awards is immeasurable, but here is just one recipient’s reflection on it: “This fellowship has empowered me to remain active in volunteer work, especially in causes close to my heart. Volunteering is a core part of who I am, and I am thankful that this fellowship will allow me to balance service with scholarship. The support from our Foundation reinforces the values that initially drew me to Delta Gamma—compassion, leadership, and social responsibility—and I carry those values proudly in every step of my academic, professional and service journey.” –Olivia Cook, Beta Mu-Bowling Green – Loretta “Laurie” Petrucce Roselle Memorial Fellowship recipient

Memorial Fellowship Honorees: