Gregor and Donat Wentzel Scholarships provide support to help recruit and retain outstanding students in the Department of Astronomy. No application is needed; selection is usually made by the Graduate Entrance Committee from the most promising applicants for graduate study. Awards vary but typically range from $1,000 to $5,000.

The Gregor Wentzel Scholarship was established at the University in 1998 by Prof. Donat Wentzel and Maria Wentzel to recognize Prof. Wentzel's father, Gregor Wentzel (1898-1978), a renowned physicist who made major contributions to the development of quantum mechanics as well as X-ray spectroscopy, meson theory, and quantum electrodynamics.

Prof. Donat Wentzel passed away on February 20, 2013, at the age of 78. He was a superb scientist and educator, and a great friend of the Department of Astronomy. He was well known for his work on plasma physics in the Sun and ISM, for his excellence as an educator, and for his public service to astronomy, for which he received the AAS Van Biesbroeck Prize in 2003. He was also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. His obituary was carried by the Washington Post. Subsequently, the scholarship was renamed the Gregor and Donat Wentzel Scholarship.

Scholarship Recipients (partial list)

• Kiana Whitfield (2022)
• Arjun Savel (2020)
• Benjamin Hord (2018)
• Amy Steele (2017)
• Laura Lenkić (2016)
• Krista Smith
• Thomas Shimizu
• Kory R. Kreimeyer
• John I. Capone
• Michael A. Gill