The Clare Boothe Luce Program is one of the single most significant sources of private support for women in science, mathematics and engineering in higher education in the United States. The program was established with a bequest from Clare Boothe Luce, a renowned figure in journalism, politics, diplomacy, foreign affairs and philanthropy. She was a playwright, journalist, U.S. Ambassador to Italy, and the first woman elected to Congress from Connecticut.
The Clare Boothe Luce Program awarded its first grants in 1989 and is dedicated to increasing the participation of women in the sciences, mathematics and engineering at every level of higher education across the country. The program also serves as a catalyst for colleges and universities to be proactive in their own efforts toward this goal. In her bequest establishing this program, Ambassador Luce sought “to encourage women to enter, study, graduate, and teach” in fields where there have been various obstacles, professional and personal, to their advancement.
Trinity Washington University is proud and honored to be one of thirteen colleges and universities specifically named in Ambassador Luce’s bequest to receive annual grants from the Clare Boothe Luce Program in perpetuity, to support professorships and scholarships for talented women in the sciences and mathematics.
Beyond these designated institutions, the Clare Boothe Luce Program invites other colleges and universities to compete annually for grants. The Clare Boothe Luce Program celebrated 30 years of grantmaking in 2019 and by the end of that year, the program awarded grants totaling more than $200 million in support of more than 2,600 women.
In addition to Trinity, the institutions specifically designated in Ambassador Luce’s bequest are: Boston University, Colby College, Creighton University, Fordham University, Georgetown University, Marymount University, Mount Holyoke College, St. John’s University, Santa Clara University and Seton Hall University.
The Clare Boothe Luce Program is administered by the Henry R. Luce Foundation.