Amita Malwade Graduate Scholarship in Human Geography (SM6182)

Eligibility:
• Be a graduate student in human geography; special consideration will be given to students in population geography or social geography
• Show high motivation and academic standards
• Demonstrate a commitment to excellence in teaching and research

Amita Malwade was a young, extremely dedicated, bright teacher and scholar. Prior to coming to the United States, she was among the youngest and one of the few female reporters in Ahmedabad, India. At that time, through her investigative journalism and support of popular causes, she became greatly admired by the poor and disenfranchised, especially women, of whom she wrote and whose cause she espoused. In her first regular university teaching position in the United States at Keene State University in New Hampshire, she spent the last year of her busy life teaching journalism, presenting her research at several professional meetings, and finishing her doctoral dissertation.

Throughout all that time, she found the energy to be a dedicated and loving mother, embracing motherhood with the same excitement and enthusiasm that she had given to her journalistic projects in India and to her teaching and research in the United States. Only two months after receiving her Ph.D. in mass communications from Pennsylvania State University in 1992, she died unexpectedly at 35 years of age. An inspiring person, an insightful researcher, and an exemplary role model to many, Amita died at a time when she had so much to offer to so many.