Longtime Emory faculty member J. Russell Major, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Renaissance History Emeritus, and his wife Blair established the award to assist "the most promising student" writing a dissertation on European history in the period c.1350-1715. In a document outlining the conditions of the award, Major wrote, "During the 1948-49 academic year, when I was writing my doctoral dissertation at Princeton University, and Blair, two children and I were trying to live on the G.I. Bill and a teaching assistantship, we received the Elias Boudinot Fellowship of $700, derived from a gift he had made in the late 18th century. It was totally unexpected and greatly appreciated, and we will never forget that this man once lived . . . . Therefore, we would like to establish a fund to assist students to complete their dissertations as rapidly as possible."
The award, given this year for the first time is for a 10-month period.