Learn more about Premier Awards at the University of Alabama on the Premier Awards Website

Applicants can apply for the John Fraser Ramsey Award when Applications open in November every year on the Premier Awards Application website.

The Ramsey Award honors a distinctive kind of excellence. It is not merely a service, leadership, or academic award, although recipients have – by their contributions to the University, their spirit of cooperation, and their academic achievements – demonstrated their abilities in these areas. Rather, the Ramsey Award is intended to recognize the versatility of gifts and attainments, as well as the breadth of excellence in mind and character, that have traditionally been the goals of a liberal education.

This monetary and travel award is given annually to a student enrolled full time at the University of Alabama. One applicant will be selected for the award, which includes a trip to Europe and a cash sum totaling $8,000.

Applicant Qualifications

  • Junior (a member of next academic year’s graduating class)
  • GPA minimum 3.3 and in good judicial standing
  • A student with broad humanistic interests who has exerted a positive influence on his or her contemporaries.
  • Because versatility is an important component of the Ramsey Award, the essay should demonstrate breadth, as well as depth, in academic and nonacademic pursuits

Application Materials

  • Essay
    • The essay should address how the student has embodied the spirit of the Ramsey Award through their versatility of gifts and attainments, as well as the breadth of excellence in mind and character, that have traditionally been the goals of a liberal education.
    • The essay should include one page on what applicants would hope to accomplish and experience on the Great Ideas Tour, and why they want to make the Tour.
  • Resume/ Curriculum Vitae
  • Online Application Form
  • One Letter of Recommendation