Clemson renames fellowship for English professor

Clemson University’s Pearce Center for Professional Communication changed the name of its graduate fellowship in May 2026. The program is now called the Art Young Graduate Fellowship. This change honors Professor Emeritus Art Young, a former Robert S. Campbell Chair of English.

The fellowship supports graduate teaching assistants who want to improve how they teach writing. Fellows test different methods and tools to help undergraduates write better in classes across various subjects. The work connects to the center's Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing in the Disciplines programs.

Young helped create the Pearce Center from the start. He worked with donors Roy and Marnie Pearce to secure the initial funding. He also founded and managed the university's communication across the curriculum program. That program played a role in Clemson being named Time magazine's 2001 College of the Year.

The center adopted many of the principles Young established during his years of leadership. The name change acknowledges his long-term mentorship and support for the graduate students who now run the programs he built.

The Pearce Center continues to use the frameworks Young developed. The fellowship remains a key part of the center's effort to raise the quality of writing instruction at the graduate level. The center cited Young's innovation and dedication as the reason for the tribute.