The Ford Foundation Predoctoral and Dissertation Fellowships for Minorities Program was initiated in 1985 with the first awards announced in 1986. The goal of the program is to increase the presence of underrepresented minorities on the nation's college and university faculties. Awards are made to individuals who have demonstrated superior scholarship and show greatest promise for future achievement as scholars, researchers, and teachers in institutions of higher education.
The Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships for Minorities Program, initiated in 1979, is designed to help scholars either preparing for or engaged in college or university teaching and research. The goal is for fellows to achieve professional recognition in their respective fields and to acquire the professional associations that will make them more effective and productive in academic employment. Awards are made to those individuals who show greatest promise of future achievement in academic research and scholarship in higher education.