Lincoln University professor David Walton earns ACLS HBCU Faculty Fellowship

David Walton, associate professor of history at Lincoln University of Missouri, has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious ACLS HBCU Faculty Fellowship.

David Walton, associate professor of history and African American and Africana studies at Lincoln University of Missouri, has been named a 2026 American Council of Learned Societies HBCU Faculty Fellow.

Walton is among eight fellows nationwide selected to receive up to $50,000 each through the ACLS HBCU Faculty Fellowship and Grant Program, which supports exceptional research by faculty in the humanities and interpretive social sciences at historically Black colleges and universities.

The fellowship will support Walton's book exploring the lives and legacy of the 62nd and 65th USCT Regiments, the African American Union soldiers who founded Lincoln University of Missouri in 1866. Using archival research, biography, and historical analysis, the study investigates the founders' backgrounds, military service, and the vision that led them to establish a university for freed people.

"It is a great honor. I am deeply humbled," Walton said. "I am also grateful to represent LUMO in such a way, shining as an example of the great research and scholarship our faculty produce here."

The fellowship provides awardees research funds, a stipend, and university support to complete their proposed research and disseminate it through conference travel and presentations, publications, and related activities.

"The breadth of institutions, scholarly fields, and research methods represented in this year's awardees shows the depth of the scholarship found across the HBCU system," said Nike Nivar Ortiz, ACLS program officer in U.S. programs.

Now in its third year, the program was developed in consultation with HBCU faculty and administrators to address the unique teaching and service commitments of faculty at HBCUs. Awards also include networking and professional development opportunities, as well as a $2,500 grant to the awardee's home institution to support humanities programming or infrastructure.

This year's 20 awards — eight fellowships and 12 grants — support faculty at 18 HBCUs. Funded projects span a wide range of disciplines, including African American studies, linguistics, philosophy, religious studies, and theater and performance studies.

The American Council of Learned Societies is a nonprofit federation of 81 scholarly organizations and the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.