The Fellowship was founded to honor Stephen Marsh Tenney, M.D. (1922-2000), a 1944 graduate of Dartmouth Medical School, who returned to the school in 1956 to lead its legendary renaissance as Dean and as the founding Chairman of the former Department of Physiology.
Throughout his long service to Dartmouth, Dr. Tenney strongly encouraged medical students to complete a year of full-time research to experience the excitement and challenge of investigative medicine without committing to a career in it or earning a separate degree. He was a sponsor and mentor to more than a dozen 'year-out fellows' at the Medical School, beginning in 1957 and extending until his retirement in 1988. Many of these former students have gone on to distinguished careers in academic and clinical medicine.
The Fellowship consists of a $43,000 grant, with the expectation that $40,000 will be paid as a stipend to the student and $3,000 can be used for supplies or other miscellaneous expenses. Any student who wishes to apply should discuss their plans with a potential mentor and submit a current CV and a two-page summary of their research plan to Cheryl Bush (Cheryl.A.Bush@Dartmouth.edu) in the Department of Molecular and Systems Biology. A letter from the mentor should accompany the application and document the mentor's willingness to serve in that role, as well as the availability of sufficient space and research funding to support the project. The Fellow is selected by a committee of faculty members from the Department of Molecular and Systems Biology.
This fellowship is available to trainees in the Geisel School of Medicine community.
The next application round will be in the fall of 2026 for the 2027-2028 academic year. Please direct any questions that you have concerning the Tenney Fellowship to Cheryl.A.Bush@Dartmouth.edu.