Parents Fund Scholarships

To support outstanding performance and continued intellectual growth, the Parents Fund offers two scholarships, both awarded each spring to rising third-year students for a portion of their third- and fourth-year tuition and fees. Recipients are chosen based on demonstrated academic achievement, leadership, citizenship, and financial need.

The Gilbert J. Sullivan Endowed Scholarship honors the co-founder of the UVA Parents Fund Committee, Gilbert Sullivan, who served as director of the UVA Alumni Association for 35 years. The Gordon C. Burris Endowed Scholarship was created in 2014 and recognizes longtime administrator and student mentor Gordon Burris, who co-founded the UVA Parents Fund Committee along with Mr. Sullivan. In spring 2018, The Bicentennial Scholarship Fund was created in honor of Pat Lampkin, vice president of Student Affairs, and her spouse, Wayne Cozart, vice president of the Alumni Association and director of the Jefferson Trust, both of whom have made transformative contributions to student life at the University. This award will provide support to a current undergraduate with “independent student status” and demonstrated financial need.

Application Process

The Gilbert J. Sullivan Scholarship and the Gordon C. Burris Scholarship are awarded to rising third-year students who have a demonstrated record of citizenship, leadership, academic achievement, and financial need. Financial need is assessed by Student Financial Services (SFS)—all scholarship applicants must have an active financial aid application or must otherwise apply at Student Financial Services.

Both $15,000 scholarships cover a portion of tuition and fees for recipients’ third and fourth years: $7,500 per year (i.e., $3,750 per semester). Rising third-year students who wish to apply may do so beginning on February 4, 2019 by visiting the SFS portal.

There are three requirements for all applicants:

An application
An updated resume
A letter of recommendation: Letters may come from anyone, but we recommend asking a UVA professor or dean to write about your citizenship, leadership, and/or academic achievement.

The SFS portal will direct students to fill out the application and upload their current resume. Applicants will then be required to submit the name and contact information of the person writing a recommendation letter on their behalf. Students should contact their recommender beforehand to obtain his or her consent before submitting the requisite contact information.

The Student Financial Services portal opens on February 4, 2019 and closes at midnight on March 11, 2019. Scholarship recipients will be announced at the Parents Fund Committee spring meeting on Friday, April 12, 2019. Applicants are advised to be available to attend a reception on the evening of Thursday, April 11, 2019, if possible, in the event that they are selected. Email Anna Patchias, at the UVA Parents Fund, with any questions.