Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship Receives Generous Donor Support

The American Musicological Society (AMS) is pleased to announce that, thanks to the generous gift of two anonymous donors and long-time AMS members, the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship (HMB) will continue to provide a single, year-long fellowship of $25,000 during the 2026-2027 fellowship year. The Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship provides one year of funding for a student at a U.S. or Canadian university who is also a member of a historically under-represented group. 

This welcome news reverses a decision that the Society reluctantly announced during the 2025 AMS-SMT Joint Annual Meeting in Minneapolis: namely, that funding shortfalls would require AMS to scale back the support it provided as part of the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship. The Society understands the dismay this announcement may have caused those who, like us, care deeply about this program. We are glad to be able to restore it. 

This original reduction in support was approved by the AMS Board of Directors because of the drastic loss in NEH grant funding experienced by the Society in April 2025. The cancellation of four (4) previously awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and subsequent rejection of three (3) other grant proposals then under consideration resulted in a significant loss of anticipated income for the American Musicological Society – a loss estimated at $250,000 to $350,000 annually over the next three years. This loss of anticipated grant funding has squeezed the Society’s budget and reduced its anticipated discretionary funds in ways that have had a negative downstream impact on underfunded AMS programs, most notably the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship and Eileen Southern Travel Fund (ESTF). (The ESTF supports travel to the AMS annual meeting for undergraduate and terminal masters students from historically underrepresented groups exploring careers in musicology.)

The Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship and Eileen Southern Travel Fund program are both supported by restricted funds that cover less than 50% of their costs. This means that these programs have only been made possible in past years thanks to substantial subsidies from the Society’s general operating budget. This is not sustainable. 

Of course, the Society has been concerned about the health and long-term sustainability of the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship and Eileen Southern Travel Fund program for some time. Thus, beginning in 2023, the AMS began strongly encouraging members who care about diversity to contribute to its Diversity Programs Fund. Donations to this fund are split evenly between the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship and the Eileen Southern Travel Fund, and are part of a larger campaign to make those programs fully self-supporting.

To help ensure the future of these programs, we invite you to make a one-time or recurring donation to the Diversity Programs Fund. To do so, please visit the Society’s fund-based donation page.

Many thanks to the two generous, anonymous donors whose contributions will sustain funding levels for the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship during the coming year. The Society is deeply grateful for their generosity and continuing contributions to the future of the AMS.