Announcing the Thomas D. Dee II Graduate Dissertation Fellowship in the American West

The first-ever Thomas D. Dee II Fellowship will go to Kathryne Young

Thomas D. Dee II, Stanford Class of 1941, had two passions: the American West and Stanford University. The Bill Lane Center for the American West is proud to announce a new fellowship in Dee's honor, the Thomas D. Dee II Graduate Dissertation Fellowship in the American West.

Dee arrived at Stanford in 1937. After growing up in the relatively small town of Ogden, Utah, he had the opportunity at Stanford to meet people from all over the country. Like any first-year student, Dee struggled with homesickness, but he also enjoyed the new exposure to Stanford's community of learning and to broader, national issues. Dee became a Social Sciences major, and he served in leadership roles in Varsity Baseball, the Stanford Glee Club, Scabbard and Blade, and Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. His son David described Stanford as an eye-opening, life-changing experience: "You know, my Dad, he had a few passions in the world. One of them was certainly Stanford."

The grandson of pioneers, Dee had a deep commitment to the American West. Thomas' grandparents, Thomas Duncombe Dee I and Annie Taylor Dee, settled in Ogden as part of the nineteenth-century Mormon migration to Utah. With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, Ogden became an increasingly important city. Over the years, the Dee family played an important role in Utah's civic and business affairs, including the Utah International Construction and Mining Company.

Dee's sons, David and Thomas, set up the Dee fellowship as a way to honor their father's memory and to further his engagement with Stanford and the West.

As Stanford begins the 2012-13 academic year, the Bill Lane Center for the American West welcomes the first-ever Thomas D. Dee II Graduate Dissertation Fellow, Kathryne Young. Young is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology and also holds B.A. and J.D. degrees from Stanford. Her research focuses on questions of law, gender, and race. She will complete her dissertation during her year at the Center and plans to receive the Ph.D. in June 2013.