Andrew Carnegie Fellows
The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program provides philanthropic support for scholarship in the humanities and social sciences that addresses important and enduring issues confronting our society, with a special emphasis on political polarization.
Introducing the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Fellows
The 2026 class of 24 fellows marks the third year of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program’s focus on building a body of research on political polarization in the United States.
“Carnegie seeks to understand how and why our society has become so polarized and what we can do to strengthen the forces of cohesion.”
Dame Louise Richardson
President, Andrew Carnegie Foundation
About the Program
Since 2015, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program has supported high-caliber scholarship and research in the social sciences and humanities that address important and enduring issues confronting our society. The 2026 Class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows marks the third year of the program’s focus on building a body of research on political polarization in the United States. Carnegie committed up to $18 million to this effort over three years.
The fellows aim to help Americans understand how and why our society has become so polarized and what can be done to strengthen social cohesion. Of the 24 fellows in the Class of 2026, 12 are employed by public universities and 11 by private universities in the United States, and one by a public university in Canada. Selected from more than 380 nominations — a program record — the fellows each receive a stipend of $200,000, making it possible for them to devote their time to significant research and writing.
The criteria for their selection prioritized the originality and potential impact of the proposal as well as the capacity to communicate the findings to a broad audience. The fellows were selected by a distinguished panel of jurors, chaired by Dame Louise Richardson, president of the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, and comprised of scholars and academic and intellectual leaders from some of the nation’s most prominent educational institutions, foundations, and scholarly societies.
The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program is a continuation of the mission of the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. Today, the foundation works to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for the issues that Carnegie considered most important: education, democracy, and peace.
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Nomination
Eligibility
The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program is open only to citizens or permanent residents of the United States who have been nominated by the head of an institution designated by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. Candidates must have a PhD, hold a terminal degree, or be a high-level professional working outside of academia. Eligible nominators include heads of independent research institutes and learned societies, university presidents, leaders of some of the nation’s preeminent think tanks, and directors of major publishers, as well as editors of leading newspapers and magazines (please write to acfellows@carnegie.org to find out if your institution is on our nomination list). Nominators must include 2-3 sentences on the institution’s internal candidate selection process. Individuals may not apply for the Fellows Program via self-nomination.
The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program prohibits a fellowship winner from accepting a fellowship of equal caliber or at a comparable level of funding that overlaps the same timeline as the Carnegie fellowship, especially awards that have specific time requirements. However, smaller grants and project support are acceptable on a case-by-case basis.
Criteria
Nominations are evaluated by the jury based on the following criteria:
- Originality and promise of the idea
- Quality of the proposal
- Promise to offer solutions to harmful polarization or to enhance social cohesion
- Record of the nominee
- Plans to communicate findings to a broad audience
Topic
Carnegie anticipates that the work of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program will explore the many ways political polarization in the United States manifests itself in society and suggest ways that it may be mitigated. Studies of polarization in other countries are welcome, provided they offer lessons that can be applied to the United States. Projects based in disciplines across the humanities and social sciences are welcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
To be eligible, you must be a U.S. citizen or have permanent U.S. residency status. You must also be nominated by one of a designated group of individuals, who include leaders of universities, think tanks, and publishers. (Please write to acfellows@carnegie.org to find out if your institution is on our nomination list.)
University presidents may nominate one tenured and one untenured scholar. Untenured candidates include those in a tenure-track post. Other nominators — e.g., the head of a university press, learned society, think tank, publisher, or newspaper — may nominate one candidate.
For professional schools and other institutions that do not have tenure, a senior scholar is defined as one who received their terminal degree more than 10 years ago (before November 2015), and a junior scholar as one who received their terminal degree 10 years ago or less (after November 2015).
We welcome candidates holding a terminal degree other than a PhD. We also welcome candidates with exceptional experience that qualifies them as a senior professional or intellectual.
No indirect/overhead costs will be allowed or paid to the university. Fellows shall receive the entire grant for support of the research project.
Yes. However, one nominee will need to be the lead applicant and receive and administer the fellowship. Other contributors may be brought in as partners or consultants, including from the same institution.
The fellowship must begin on the first of the month between July and September of 2026. It is not possible to defer the start of the fellowship. It must begin no later than September 1, 2026.
Recipients have the choice of a 12-month or a 24-month fellowship.
Yes. The fellow may choose to receive the funding in one of two ways:
- As an individual: if you choose to receive the fellowship as an individual, you will receive a 1099 form from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation at the end of the tax year.
- Through your institution: if you choose to have your institution receive the fellowship funds as a “payor,” your institution will assume all tax reporting responsibilities.
No, the Andrew Carnegie Foundation cannot provide tax advice. The fellow will need to consult a financial adviser. The fellow may allocate a portion of the fellowship to cover the cost of a tax consultation.
In nominating a scholar for this fellowship, a university is indicating its continuing support for that scholar and the administration’s intention to provide in-kind support, such as full retirement and health benefits when the scholar takes time off to work on research and writing.
You may choose to receive the award over a one- or two-year period. During the selected period, you may opt to go on sabbatical for the entire fellowship or a portion of it. You may also choose to teach classes part-time and/or to work on the project over the summer. On the application, please specify the time you will allot to working on the project. This will allow our jurors to determine whether it is feasible for you to accomplish your goals.
Selected nominees will be notified by email shortly after the jury makes its final selections in mid-April 2026. If your nomination is unsuccessful, you will receive an email notification shortly thereafter.
Unfortunately, due to the large number of nominations that we receive, we are not able to respond to requests for feedback.
Candidates who have been nominated for the Fellows Program since the change of focus to polarization (i.e., who were nominated for the 2024 or 2025 fellowships) may not be nominated again during the current three-year period, regardless of who nominated them.
Yes. However, you must have an established relationship with the institution and that institution must also be on our nomination list. Please contact acfellows@carnegie.org for eligibility advice.