Program Aims
Since its first grants in 1989 the Clare Boothe Luce (CBL) Program has become one of the single most significant sources of private support for women in science, mathematics and engineering in Higher Education in the United States. Clare Boothe Luce, the widow of Henry R. Luce, was a playwright, journalist, U.S. Ambassador to Italy, and the first woman elected to Congress from Connecticut. In her bequest establishing this program, she sought “to encourage women to enter, study, graduate, and teach” in science, mathematics and engineering. To date, the program has supported more than 2,500 women.
Award Categories
The CBL Program awards grants in three categories:
- Undergraduate Awards
- Graduate Fellowships
- Professorships
Designated Institutions
Thirteen institutions, specifically designated in Ambassador Luce’s bequest, receive income from an initial allocation in perpetuity. These institutions are known as Designated Institutions.
Recent Grants
Momentum Newsletter
Program Administrators
Carlotta M. Arthur, Ph.D. was the first African American woman to earn a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from Purdue University. After a decade in the aerospace and automotive industries, she completed an M.A. in Psychology and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a specialty in Psychophysiology/Health Psychology, from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Carlotta was a member of the inaugural cohort of W.K. Kellogg Scholars in Health Disparities at the Harvard School of Public Health. She also served as an Assistant Professor at Meharry Medical College, an HBCU in Nashville, TN; an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Smith College; and as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. Prior to joining the Luce Foundation, Carlotta directed the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program, Diversity Initiatives, HBCU, and Appalachian Colleges Programs at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Prior to joining the Luce Foundation, Bridget worked in the Poetry Program at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, where her core responsibilities were focused around the Dodge Poetry Festival and included writing introductions to the work of Festival Poets (both online and on site), preparing teaching resources for visiting students and teachers, event planning, and working in the Festival’s audio-visual archive. She has also taught writing to incarcerated women, college and high school students, children, and adult learners. Bridget earned her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and her BA from Sarah Lawrence College.