Christine Falck Fellowship in Education

Dr. Vilma Falck of Austin created this fellowship in memory of her late daughter Christine, an only child who grew up believing that each of us has the responsibility to try to make the world a better, more equitable place for everyone, that in fact, “you are your brother’s keeper”. Chris was raised in an environment which highly valued education. Both of her parents were faculty members of various universities throughout their working lives; her mother was a member of the faculty of The University of Texas for almost forty years. Chris attended the Burlington Public Schools during the time her parents were on the Medical School faculty of the University of Vermont: she went with them to volunteer in underdeveloped countries for short periods of time. While attending Emma Willard School and Earlham College, she continued, during vacations to volunteer for worthwhile causes.

Chris died of an unexplainable brain tumor at the age of 35. She and her husband Karl had established an educational program for adolescents and teenagers, taking groups of these children on educational adventures in Maine and in Greece. They created a project which involved grassroots economic rehabilitation efforts for a village deep in the Hatian Hills. She also had organized a project at the time when children in Atlanta were being murdered, bringing 25 Atlanta inner city children to Main camps during the summers; this continued even after the seige of children’s murders in that city.

The purpose of the Christine Falck Fellowship in Education at The University of Texas is an attempt to continue in the tradition of fostering educational programs which focus on creating sensitive, caring and socially responsible actions.