Synar Fellowship Recipients

Michael Synar

Michael Synar was an eight-term Democratic Congressman from the Second District in northeast Oklahoma. He served in the House of Representatives from 1979 to 1995. He was born in 1950 in Vinita, Oklahoma, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1972, received an M.A. from Northwestern University in 1974, and received an LL.B. degree from the University of Oklahoma Law Center in 1977.

During his time in the House, Representative Synar championed many causes, including firearm sales waiting-period laws, increasing fees on ranchers who leased federal land for...

John W. Gardner

Having earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology from Stanford University and his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, John William Gardner launched a truly exceptional career in public service. He ultimately served under six presidents, most prominently as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Lyndon Baines Johnson between 1965 and 1968.

As Secretary of HEW, Gardner successfully implemented a wide range of Great Society programs targeting the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. He upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964...

2023 Percy Synar Award Ceremony and Reception

February 24, 2023 2:00pm - 4:00pm Please join us as we congratulate the 2023 recipients of the Charles H. Percy Undergraduate Grant for Public Affairs Research and the Mike Synar Graduate Research Fellowship.

An Awards Ceremony and Reception for the 2023 Charles H. Percy Undergraduate Grant and the Mike Synar Graduate Fellowship Recipients, by the Institute of Governmental Studies.

Each year, the Institute of Governmental Studies awards up to four Charles H. Percy research grants in the amount of $500 each to U.C. Berkeley undergraduate students who...