The Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program was founded at Radcliffe College in 1960 as the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study. In 1978 the Institute was renamed the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute to honor Radcliffe College President Mary Bunting whose initiative it was to create a postgraduate study center for female scholars and artists. Concerned about the prevailing "climate of unexpectation" for women at that time, Bunting deliberately sought to reverse that negative attitude by establishing the essential gifts of an Institute fellowship: time, financial support, a room of one's own, membership in a vital community of women, and access to all Radcliffe and Harvard resources.

Once Bunting’s idea was made public and the announcement appeared on the front page of the New York Times in the fall of 1960, more than two thousand women inquired about the "experiment." The outpouring of interest confirmed President Bunting's hunch—that a growing number of educated women were ready to resume intellectual or artistic work after raising families.

Since 1960 more than 1400 scholars, scientists, artists, writers, and musicians have been named fellows. The Boston Globe Magazine called the Bunting Institute "America's Think Tank for Women," and the Chronicle of Higher Education described the Institute as a place where "lives get turned around, books get written, and discoveries are made, all the result of time spent among intellectual peers."

When poet Anne Sexton BI '63 applied to the newly established Radcliffe Institute in 1961, she wrote, ". . . it seems to me that I have come a long way alone . . . I feel that I am already an accomplished poet. What I ask for now is the opportunity to be a lasting one."

The world changed significantly for women in ensuing years, as did the fellowship program, but for the thousands who have continued to apply to the program, the sentiments of Anne Sexton ring true.

With the establishment of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in 1999, the legacy of Mary Bunting continues. Drawing on the unique resources of Radcliffe's Schlesinger Library, in addition to those at Harvard University, fellows—women and men—pursue advanced work across a wide range of academic disciplines, professions, and creative arts.

For the many who have benefited from a Radcliffe fellowship, in turn, they have given back lasting gifts that have touched all aspects of society. Following is a sampling of fellows' contributions, awards, and publications:

• Barbara White '87, RI '01 and Gish Jen '77, BI '87, RI '02 received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2003. White was awarded a Charles Ives Fellowship in Music, while Jen received a Strauss Living Award.
• The 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction went to Sabina Murray BI '00.
• Liz Canner RI '03 received project grants from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, as well as an artist residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Three fellows were named to Discover magazine's list of the "Fifty Most Important Women in Science": Oceanographer Sylvia Earle BI '69 is an explorer-in-residence for the National Geographic Society; Marcia McNutt BI '86 is the president and CEO of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and was featured in the Winter 2003 issue of the Radcliffe Quarterly; and Maria Zuber RI '03, who was part of the 2003 "cosmology cluster," is the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and Planetary Science at MIT.
• Playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith BI '92 developed and first performed her one-woman play Fires in the Mirror at the Agassiz Theatre in Radcliffe Yard. She later won two Obie Awards, was nominated for a Tony award, and received international accolades for this production.
• Former Vermont Governor and US Ambassador to Switzerland Madeleine Kunin BI '92 wrote her memoir Living a Political Life at the Bunting Institute. She is noted internationally for her commitment to the environment, education, and children's services.
• Author Alice Walker '73 wrote Meridian while in residence.
• Author Tillie Olsen BI '64, '86, wrote Silences as a fellow.
• Psychologist Carol Gilligan BI '83 came to the Bunting Institute to continue her research for her landmark book, In a Different Voice. Time magazine named Gilligan one of the twenty-five most influential people in the country.
• Filmmaker Jeanne Jordan BI '93 developed her documentary film Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern during her fellowship. The film received two awards for best documentary film from the Sundance Film Festival and an Oscar nomination.
• Biologist Naomi Pierce BI '90 studied the life histories of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae for which she received a MacArthur Award.
• Lawyer, former Black Panther leader, and social activist Kathleen Cleaver BI '95 wrote her memoirs Memories of Love and War while a fellow.
• Diane Wood Middlebrook BI '83 wrote Anne Sexton: A Biography, tithing to the Bunting Institute a portion of her profits. The book received international recognition.
• Painter Frances Cohen Gillespie BI '82 exhibited her work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, while in residence.
• Following her fellowship, Lucy Wilson Benson BI '67 became the first woman to be named an undersecretary of state during the Carter administration.
• Composer Augusta Read Thomas BI '91 composed Air and Angels, a piece for a large reseated orchestra during her fellowship year. Her music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, among other orchestras. While a fellow, her piece Karum was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
• Business entrepreneurs Dawn-Marie Driscoll and Carol Goldberg BI '91 wrote Members of the Club: The Coming of Age of Executive Women, about women executives in the corporate world.
• Stella M. Nkomo and Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell BI '94 completed a ground-breaking study of the effects of race and gender on the experiences of women managers in private corporations. Two-thirds of their subjects were African American. They were commissioned by the Clinton administration to prepare a monogragh for the Glass Ceiling Commission on the barriers to workplace advancement for African Americans.
• Sarah Buel BI '94, an attorney who has worked with abuse victims for sixteen years, received the 1993 Abigail Adams Award for outstanding work in social rights, economic justice, and political equality for women. She was also named "Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year" by the Massachusetts Bar Association and "One of the Top 20 Young Lawyers in the USA" by the American Bar Association.
• Historian Robin Kilson BI '94 was a scholar who wrote about the experiences of the African American women who obtained doctoral degrees before the 1960s. While at the Bunting, Kilson, also organized a conference of national importance, "Black Women in the Academy: Defending Our Name, 1894–1994."

Mary Ingraham Bunting Smith, founder of the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study, was president of Radcliffe College from 1960 to 1972.

Constance E. Smith, a political scientist and educator, was the first director of the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study. She served from 1960 through 1970.

Alice Kimball Smith was the Institute director from 1970 to 1973.

Susan Lyman was the acting director from 1973 to 1974.

Patricia Graham was Institute director from 1974 to 1977. She was a fellow in 1972–73.

Marion Kilson was the Institute director from 1977 to 1980. In 1978 the Institute was renamed the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College.

Mary Baughman Anderson, an independent consultant in development economics, was the acting director of the Bunting from 1980 to 1981.

Margaret McKenna was director of the Bunting from 1981 to 1985. She is the president of Lesley University (the first woman to serve in that post).

Elizabeth McKinsey was the director from 1984 to 1989. She was a fellow in 1980–1981 and is currently Dean at Carleton College.

Florence Ladd was the director from 1989 to 1997. She was a fellow in 1971–1973 and has recently published several works of fiction.

Theologian Rita Nakashima Brock was the director from 1997 to 2001. In 1999, following the merger with Harvard University, the Bunting Fellowship Program was renamed the Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

Judith E. Vichniac is the current Associate Dean of the Fellowship Program. Prior to her appointment, Dr. Vichniac was director of studies and senior lecturer, Harvard University Committee on Degrees in Social Studies.