The Norman Wait Harris Memorial Foundation Fund is one of the University of Chicago's oldest endowments. It was established in 1923 with a gift from the five children of Norman Wait Harris, founder of the Harris Trust and Savings Bank, in honor of their father. The purpose of the fund is to help citizens of the United States better understand other peoples of the world.

The Norman Wait Harris Fund supports conferences, lectures, invited speakers, and other events on international topics at the University of Chicago. Students, faculty, and University centers and organizations are eligible to apply for Norman Wait Harris support. The proposed activity may be a single event or a series of events.

Note that the Norman Wait Harris Fund does NOT award funds for individual research projects or travel by University of Chicago students and faculty, nor for events held outside Chicago.

Funding preference is given to those events that are multi-disciplinary in nature and open to the general public. Preference is also given to projects that are either ineligible for other sources of support or that require and are seeking multiple sources of support (i.e. projects requiring more than $3,000). Proposals from RSOs are discouraged.

Competition Guidelines

• The Center for International Studies awards grants of up to $3000 in its annual spring competition, to be used during the subsequent academic year.
• Applications for funding in 2008-09 must be made by Thursday, May 15, 2008 and must use the ONLINE FORM.
• All applications should include a description of the proposed activities and their significance, as well as an event title, the (proposed) date, time, participants, and intended audience.
• Applications must also include a budget that includes information on other sources from which support has been sought (or awarded).
• Previous Harris Fund recipients are eligible to apply, but the event or activity proposed must be substantively different from previously funded activities.