Honors and Awards

Phi Alpha Theta is the National History Honors Society. CU Denver's chapter of this society incorporates students' passion for history with group bonding and overall fun. They hold several events each semester, such as guest lectures, panel discussions, and trivia nights. Once a member, you are a member for life. If interested, please contact Professor Kariann Yokota at kariann.yokota@ucdenver.edu.

  Check out our members and events!

Phi Alpa Theta Application

Phi Alpha Theta Secondary SGA Application

The Dean's List is a university honor that is bestowed upon students who receive a 3.75 or higher in any given semester

The Viola Vestal Coulter Foundation has provided funding for students studying Colorado History since 1958. This scholarship is awarded to several students who focus on Colorado and local history each year. Awards are distributed in the Spring semester. Access more information and the application here. 

 Students must earn a minimum 3.50 g.p.a. in their upper-division History classes to qualify for honors. Students who meet that minimum will submit their History Seminar (HIST 4839) papers to the Honors Committee at the end of their final semester. The Honors Committee will determine whether to award distinction (and the level of distinction) based on the quality of the History Seminar paper. The Undergraduate Advisor will notify eligible students in the middle of their final semester. 

This scholarship was established by Professor Emeritus Mark S. Foster, a distinguished teacher, accomplished scholar, and esteemed colleague, who wished to encourage students at CU Denver to pursue the study of History. Each year, the department plans to award the scholarship to at least one undergraduate History major who demonstrates outstanding academic achievement as well as financial need. The Mark Foster Scholarship application is available here. 

The Myra Rich Prize is awarded to the undergraduate student who has written the strongest History Seminar paper of the academic year.

Tom & Judy Ward established the Ward Family Prize in Public History for the CU Denver student doing the most to promote history among the public through educational activities, historic preservation, publications, tours and other efforts to establish a sense of place and appreciation of the past as a guide to the future. Self nominations required. All current CU Denver students and graduates are eligible for this prize, given each Spring. Please click here for more information and to access the application.

Given in the name of beloved faculty emeritus James B. Whitesides, this $100 prize is given to the graduate student who writes the best essay in the course HIST 6013 Introduction to the Professional Study of History. The nomination process and award takes place in the Spring semester.

The David Owen Tryba Prize is an annual award for outstanding student achievement in Historic Preservation for a CU Denver student.

Don Koch, a Colorado historian and author, established the Donald Warner Koch Colorado History Fund to endow two fellowships for CU Denver graduate students and highly qualified undergraduates enrolled in history. Fellows gain training and experience in archive and collections management, education, historic preservation, librarianship, museum studies, public history and publications. Don Koch died in 2000 but left these fellowships to encourage future Colorado historians.

Koch Fellowships provide two CU Denver History student fellows $5,500 each to spend an average of 8 hours a week for the 2020-2021 academic year at History Colorado under the direction of Emily Dobish, Manager of Volunteers, who supervises CU-Denver Koch Fellows at History Colorado, 1200 Broadway.

Please note, if selected as a semi-finalist, an interview is required. To apply, please click here.

Rita E. Jackson sought and succeeded in achieving independence. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in U.S. History in 1974 and continued graduate study in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Denver. She went on to work as a case worker and later as a contracted hearing officer with the Jefferson Country Department of Human Services. In addition to her professional career in social work, Jackson volunteered time and energy to reforming nursing homes, clarifying Native American water rights, and the King of Glory Lutheran Church. Her successes were in spite of confinement to a wheelchair as the result of an automobile accident at the age of seventeen which left her a quadriplegic.

The Rita E. Jackson Memorial scholarship is to benefit undergraduate or graduate students attending full-time or part-time with special academic or medical needs and who demonstrate financial need. Access more information and the application here.