Starting in September 2013, graduate student Vahid Jafarzadehdarzi will be the first recipient of the newly-created Crosbie Doctoral Scholarship in Philosophy.

Valued at $15,000 and renewable for up to four years, the scholarship will be awarded annually to a full-time student in the new PhD program in philosophy.

The announcement of the scholarship was made on March 11 at a dinner hosted by Memorial University to honour Dr. John Crosbie for his role as the province’s lieutenant-governor, a position that encompasses the role of Official Visitor to Memorial University. Dr. Crosbie is also an honorary graduate and Memorial’s longest serving chancellor.

“The Crosbie Doctoral Scholarship is a permanent testament to Dr. Crosbie’s many contributions to Memorial University,” said President Gary Kachanoski. “We are delighted to be able to create a lasting legacy in his name and hope to continue to hear his voice loud and clear for years to come.”

Dr. Crosbie has long been a supporter of the Department of Philosophy.

During his tenure as lieutenant-governor, he regularly hosted the department at Government House, usually in the context of the annual James A. Good Scholarship, an award presented to an undergraduate student in philosophy, named in honour of Dr. Crosbie's deceased chief of staff and alumnus of Memorial's philosophy department.

“The establishment of the Crosbie scholarship has definitely helped us kick off our new PhD program,” said Dr. Arthur Sullivan, head, Department of Philosophy. “Our research profile has grown considerably in the last decade and this is a further step along that trajectory.”

According to Dr. Sullivan, James Good was enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Toronto when he was persuaded to leave his studies by Dr. Crosbie. He subsequently became the head of several portfolios while Dr. Crosbie was in federal office and inspired Dr. Crosbie’s own love of philosophers and philosophizing.

“Dr. Crosbie gave several speeches at  the Good ceremonies and each time he extolled the virtues of the independent thinker and how important they were in a healthy democracy,” said philosophy professor Dr. Sean McGrath, who will be supervising Mr. Jafarzadefharzi’s doctoral research. “In Crosbie’s view, the cultivation of independent thinking is the heart of philosophy.”

The recipient of the scholarship must have a superior academic record and demonstrate excellent research potential. Mr. Jafarzadehdarzi will be focusing on metaphysics and classical German philosophy. Mr. Jafarzadehdarzi is from Iran and has published several translations of Western philosophical texts into Persian. He started at Memorial in 2011 as a master's student in philosophy.