Coakley Ames Writing Excellence Award

Fall 2025 Application Deadline

November 26, 2025

This award is made possible by a generous donation from the Coakley Ames family who supports improvement in writing through advanced study at the University of Minnesota.

Value

One $2,500 award.  

Funds will be awarded in the spring semester. If the recipient of the award currently receives financial aid through the University of Minnesota, the award will be applied toward the student’s financial aid.

Eligibility

Applicants for this award:

  • Must be a technical writing & communication major with at least one semester of coursework remaining.
  • Must have taken at least 12 credits of WRIT courses with a GPA of 3.0 or higher in those classes (transfer courses do not count).
  • Must be registered full time during the following spring semester at the University of Minnesota..
     

Application

All submissions collected by the application deadline will be considered for both the Coakley Ames Award and the Mikelonis Award. 

To apply for the award, submit the following:

  • A one-page statement explaining your interests and goals as a TWC major and how you hope to advance your writing and communication skills in the TWC program.
  • An academic writing sample from a previous class (minimum of five pages).
  • An unofficial copy of your transcript.

When evaluating these writing samples and statements, in addition to the writing quality, the award committee looks for the following: 

  • Document design and organization
  • Audience awareness
  • Ability to engage complex ideas and cite sources when appropriate
  • Clearly articulated interest in and understanding of the TWC major
     

Submit your application

Contact [email protected] with any questions about the award.

Past Recipients

  • 2025: Ai-Quynh Bui
  • 2024: Nikolas Mead
  • 2023: Hannah Hanson and Joshua Hebeisen
  • 2022: Livie Hanousek and Rosemarie Lam
  • 2021: Maximilian Bechtold and Jaclyn Willems
  • 2020: Melissa Baker and Alexandra Finley
  • 2019: Liv Riggins and Shane Rose
  • 2018: Chris Lemke and Nathan Rockershousen
  • 2017: Paige Harker and Jacqueline Laliberte
  • 2016: Caitlin Shirk and Alicia Wilson
  • 2015: John Orzechowski and Stephanie Ales
  • 2014: Mary C. Stokes and Alexa Keenan
  • 2013: Heidi Cameron and Carah Kucharski
  • 2012: Phillip Stubbs and Frank Liang
  • 2011: Andrea Daughtery, Alison Seacord, Micah Sandberg-Spieler, and Jennifer Nicklay