Weinberg sophomore lands fellowship for unpaid summer internship
The Office of Fellowships is excited to announce that Katie Fu (WCAS ’28) was chosen as the 2026 winner of the Clark and Hinman Foundation Fellowship! Since 2007, the Clark and Hinman Foundation has offered scholarships to support summer activities for academically excellent applicants committed to the principles of civil society. Fellows are characterized by their dedication to public service, civil rights, leadership, and positively impacting the world.
Katie just completed her second year at Northwestern with a major in neuroscience. Outside of class, she is involved with the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP), where she works to expand educational opportunities for incarcerated individuals. This summer, Katie is using the Clark and Hinman Foundation Fellowship to work as an intern for NPEP, where she supports administrative logistics by managing instructional materials and correspondence between students, faculty, tutors, and NPEP staff. She has also helped organize an art exhibition showcasing the creative work of incarcerated students and helped establish a new classroom library by inventorying and cataloging donated books. Her interest in civil service began in high school during the COVID-19 pandemic when she started volunteering with Learn To Be to provide free, online tutoring to underserved K–12 students nationwide. In the upcoming academic year, Katie will serve as a residential assistant and peer leader for Academic Support and Learning Advancement, while continuing her volunteer work with the American Red Cross and her research in Northwestern’s Cognitive Neuroscience Lab.
Katie shared the following reflection with us upon winning the award:
“I am honored to receive the Clark and Hinman Foundation Fellowship. This support has allowed me to dedicate my summer to working with NPEP, where I help expand equitable access to education for incarcerated individuals and support academic initiatives within correctional facilities. Through my experiences working with minority students and individuals facing systemic barriers, I realized that education is not just a path to academic success, but also a powerful way to restore hope, dignity, and opportunity. I am deeply grateful to the Clark and Hinman Foundation for making it possible for me to fully dedicate my time to service work focused on educational equity, advocacy, and community engagement.”
Katie is the thirty-third recipient of this fellowship.
Contact Jason Kelly Roberts at jason-roberts@northwestern.edu to learn more about the Clark and Hinman Foundation Fellowship.