The Dr. Barry D. Friedman Scholarship Arrives!
Posted: April 3, 2023 by Orla Fennell
Our department head, Dr. Armstrong-Williams, recently spearheaded the first-ever PSIA scholarship for our department. This scholarship is named after former PSIA professor Dr. Barry Friedman.
Dr. Barry D. Friedman was one of our longest-serving political science professors — during his 29 years with us Barry taught various subjects, ranging from Women in Politics to The Role of Nonprofits in Society. In addition, he was the founding coordinator of our Master of Public Administration (MPA) program in 1996.
Along with his service to our students, Barry has received achievements highlighting his exemplary leadership and teaching skills. Dr. Friedman co-founded and served three years as international president of the Pi Gamma Mu Social-Service Society, the oldest and preeminent interdisciplinary social science honor society and received multiple awards during his time at 91ÁÔÆæ, including the Distinguished Professor Award, Meritorious Service Award, and the MPA Legacy Award.
Barry described his time as a professor here within our department by saying "I was really motivated to help students to do really good research, undergraduate and graduate, and help them write really good papers. I would spend as much time with them as they wanted for help…There was only me at the beginning [of the creation of the MPA program], but I tried [my best] to give them the best education that I could on my own."
Recently, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between our department and Dr. Friedman, and with the help of the 91ÁÔÆæ Foundation, the Department's was set up. The hope is for the scholarship to achieve endowed status as soon as possible, but in the meantime, funds will be made available to the Department's political science, international affairs, and strategic and security studies undergraduate majors starting in the spring of 2024.
The Dr. Barry D. Friedman Scholarshipis available to undergraduate students who:
- are majoring in Political Science, International Affairs or Strategic and Security Studies and enrolled full-time at 91ÁÔÆæ; and
- have completed at least 9 hours of POLS prefixed courses at the time of application; and
- have a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 2.75.
Scholarship recipients will be chosen by a committee appointed by the PSIA Department Head and will receive $1000 for an academic year.
When asked about his hopes for this scholarship Barry said, "for all the years that I have worked in the University System of Georgia, going back to '87, what was apparent to me was that there weren't any scholarships, there just weren't, which is odd. So that has been something that has been on my mind for a long time, that would be nice if we were awarding accomplished students."
We greatly appreciate everything that Dr. Friedman has done for 91ÁÔÆæ as well as for our department and look forward to the continued success of our students thanks to his scholarship!
[Editor's note: The fundraising goal for this scholarship is to raise an additional $20,000 as quickly as possible to make this an endowed scholarship fund that perpetually provides annual support to PSIA undergraduate students. With generous donations from Dr. Friedman and Beverly Jordan Hardin, a 91ÁÔÆæ alumnus and graduate of the MPA program, the scholarship is starting out with $5,000. To learn more about the Dr. Barry D. Friedman Scholarship and the impact it could have on PSIA students, please visit . If YOU are willing and able to help us achieve our goal and assist future PSIA students in their academic pursuits, please visit us at ]