The Robert T. Jones, Jr. Fellowship was awarded to College senior Zachary Domach last week.
Domach is graduating in May with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history.
The fellowship – commonly referred to as the Bobby Jones Fellowship – is a scholarship for one year of graduate studies at Scotland’s St Andrews University in the Schools of International Relations, Divinity, Philosophy or the Neuroscience graduate program.
It was established in 2008 in honor of Robert T. Jones, who was an Emory alumnus and internationally renowned golfer.
Domach said he plans to complete a Master of Letters in Systematic and Historical Theology through St Andrews’ Divinity School, St Mary’s College.
He is interested in researching patristic writings and the development of Christian thought up to the Byzantine era.
In order to receive the award, students must submit applications to the National Scholarship and Fellowship Program office.
Director of Emory’s National Scholarship and Fellowship Program Dee McGraw and Scholarship Advisor Elizabeth Fricker then give students feedback on their applications.
According to McGraw, a committee of faculty and administrators reads the applications – which include transcripts and letters of recommendation.
They rank the applications and reach a consensus about the top candidates within the three fields (divinity, international relations and neuroscience and behavior biology).
The top applicants are then sent to a committee at St Andrews.
“The National Scholarship and Fellowship Office has been a huge resource in advising me,” Domach said. “[McGraw] and [Fricker] are highly knowledgeable, in addition to being phenomenal people.”
The fellowship is given to students who have “deep records of academic excellence,” according to McGraw.
The students typically have done independent research, received SIRE grants, earned departmental awards and other merit awards, and have had multiple related internships, she said.
“Successful Bobby Jones Fellowship recipients are able to articulate a mature, nuanced, focused research interest and to explain why the St. Andrews degree they’ve selected will further their academic goals,” McGraw said.
She also said that Domach was a “model of a successful Bobby Jones Fellowship applicant” as his work at Emory is exemplary and shows a clear path.
She added that Domach shows a continuously increasing level of dedication to the topic, adding the interdisciplinary fields of history, classics, ancient languages and the history of religion.
“[Domach] has systematically gathered expertise in each area and excelled at each,” McGraw wrote in an email. “He was able to explain with conviction why a degree in divinity, specifically in scripture and theology, will provide a necessary part of the foundation for doctoral work later in ancient history and/or classics. He’s a fine scholar, and we have every expectation that he’ll distinguish himself at St Andrews.”
Domach expects this fellowship to be a stepping stone for more advanced studies, like a PhD.
“I’ve always enjoyed school, so the opportunity to spend a fully-funded year in Scotland is particularly appealing,” Domach said.
McGraw said that the fellowship is an opportunity for an “exceptional” Emory student.
“At the same time, [he or she can] have a priceless international educational experience, make friends who will become lifelong colleagues and collaborators and get the chance to travel a bit around Europe and have a lot of fun in the process,” he said.
Domach said he was “stunned” that he received the unexpected news only two days after becoming a finalist.
“After I found out, I thanked God and called my parents,” Domach said. “It didn’t even begin to sink in until that night when I told one of my friends, who had been a past scholar. Even now, having found out nearly a month ago, it hasn’t fully hit me. I’ve been really blessed.”
In general, McGraw said that the program has been an amazing experience for all of the students who have received the fellowship.
She said that students find the program in Scotland “exhilarating” and “one of the best years of their lives.”
“They are enthusiastic about the courses and the challenge of their academic programs, but based on the stories they send back to me, I’d say they are immersed in every sort of club, sport, musical program and volunteer service you can imagine, while eating every sort of unfamiliar food, and taking every dare extended by their St. Andrews friends,” McGraw wrote.
Domach said he anticipates that the experience will be an amazing learning opportunity and he is excited to continue his studies abroad.
“I’m excited for the whole experience,” Domach said. “The degree program is something I’m very interested in, spending a year in a part of the world so beautiful and ancient will be incredible, and the opportunity to travel around the UK and Europe is similarly amazing.”
– By Wendy Becker
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
