The Norman Wait Harris Memorial Foundation Fund is one of the University of Chicago's oldest endowments. It was established in 1923 with a gift from the five children of Norman Wait Harris, founder of the Harris Trust and Savings Bank, in honor of their father. The purpose of the fund is to help citizens of the United States better understand other peoples of the world.

The Norman Wait Harris Fund supports conferences, lectures, invited speakers, and other events on international topics at the University of Chicago. Students, faculty, and University centers and organizations are eligible to apply for Norman Wait Harris support. The proposed activity may be a single event or a series of events.  The Norman Wait Harris Fund does not award grants for individual research projects or travel by University of Chicago students and faculty. Funding preference is given to those events that would typically not be supported by student organizations (RSOs and Student Government) and are multi-disciplinary in nature and of interest to the general public.

Competition Guidelines

• The Center for International Studies awards grants of up to $3000 in its annual spring competition, to be used during the subsequent academic year.
• All applications must include a detailed project plan, including the event title, location, date, time, and invited speaker(s).
• Previous Harris Fund recipients are eligible to apply, but the event or activity proposed must be substantively different from previously funded activities.
• The deadline for applications for awards to be used during the 2007-08 academic year has passed.