Colgate, Harvard establish scholarship for minority dental students

Colgate-Palmolive has gifted the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) with $210,000 to initiate the endowed Freeman, Grant, Franklin Scholarship to support students from underrepresented minority groups in the pursuit of a Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree.

The scholarship pays tribute to prominent Black figures in HSDM's history: Robert Tanner Freeman, George Franklin Grant, and Dolores Mercedes Franklin. In 1869, Freeman was the first Black man in the U.S. to graduate from a dental school, Colgate and Harvard said. In 1884, Grant became the first Black faculty member of Harvard University and HSDM. In 1974, Franklin became the first Black woman to graduate from HSDM.

The first scholarship will be awarded to a student for the 2021 academic year and will continue on an annual basis.