Grayer Fellowship recipient Kinisha Gala
Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School student stipends are supported by a variety of sources including philanthropic fellowships. Annually, GSK awards fellowships to two second-year students and six first-year students based on academic achievement in different elements of the curriculum.
Grayer Fellows
Third-year students Jens Hamann and Kinisha Gala have been named 2014-15 Grayer Fellows. The fellowships were established by Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Grayer. Mr. Grayer is a member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Boards of Overseers and Managers and is the Chairman and CEO of Weld North, an investment company. Each year, two Grayer Fellows are selected based on achieved excellence as demonstrated by their thesis proposal examinations.
Olayan Fellow
Second-year student Mark Jelcic has been selected as the 2014–15 Olayan Fellow. The fellowship, established by the Olayan Group, supports the stipend of a Gerstner Sloan Kettering graduate student for one year. Founded in 1947 by Suliman S. Olayan, the Olayan Group is a multinational corporation of more than 50 companies and affiliated businesses.
Robert B. Catell Fellow
Fellowship recipients Ryan Smith, Mark Jelcic and James Keith
Second-year student James Keith has been named the 2014–15 Robert B. Catell Fellow. Established by Robert Catell, the fellowship grew out of his commitment to advancing cancer research. It supports the stipend of a Gerstner Sloan Kettering graduate student for one year. Mr. Catell is the former Chairman and CEO of KeySpan and chairs the Advisory Boards for the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center at Stony Brook University and the New York State Smart Grid Consortium. In addition, he chairs the Advisory Councils of the New York Energy Policy Institute and the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation. Mr. Catell also serves on the boards of the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies, the New York Academy of Sciences, Tomorrow’s Hope Foundation, the New York City Police Foundation, and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, among others.
Palestin Fellowship
Second-year student George Vaisey has been awarded the 2014–15 Beatrice P. K. Palestin Fellowship. The fellowship was established in 2006 by the family of Beatrice Palestin to support the stipend of a Gerstner Sloan Kettering graduate student for one year. Mrs. Palestin was a New York philanthropist with a longtime interest in cancer research.
Geoffrey Beene Graduate Student Fellowship
Three second-year students, Hannah Johnsen, Michael Langberg and Ryan Smith, received Geoffrey Beene Graduate Student Fellowships. Recipients are selected at the end of their first year of study based on academic excellence. By providing support for outstanding Gerstner Sloan Kettering students, the Beene Fellowships are designed to expand the pool of investigators trained to pursue research in the highly complex and multidisciplinary field of cancer biology.