Honors College

The University of Wyoming Honors College invites you to consider supporting the Duncan and Janice Harris Excellence Fund. Your donation will enable the Honors College to be a hub of excellence at UW and to continue the Harrises' indelible legacy. This fund will support study abroad opportunities for UW Honors students as well as excellence initiatives across the college.

All of us involved in UW Honors over the past 35 years have directly benefitted from Duncan and Janice’s efforts. Students took life-changing classes from them and learned to understand themselves as people who could make a difference in the world. Colleagues learned from their example how to connect with students, thereby enriching and expanding their own professional development. Janice and Duncan hosted so many dinners and backyard parties that students and faculty not only felt like a part of their family but also like we had a major role in shaping and sustaining UW Honors.


Now that UW Honors has become a college, we build on Duncan and Janice Harris’s vision and continue their commitment to provide UW students with the best education the world has to offer. The Honors College is a flagship for excellence at UW, providing our most intellectually curious academically ambitious students with enhanced undergraduate experiences and positioning them well for future success as globally engaged learners and leaders.


The pillars of the Honors College are fourfold: 1) dynamic interdisciplinary courses that engage students to the major challenges of our times; 2) experiential learning through internships, special projects, and leadership opportunities; 3) study abroad classes that expand students’ understanding of the world and the forces of globalization; and 4) independent research or creative endeavors that enable students to define a major project, to develop it, and to carry it through to completion under the guidance of an expert mentor. These four pillars of Honors prepare our graduates to compete with the best students in the nation, to attend top medical and graduate schools, and to enjoy impressive careers in all fields.


Duncan and Janice Harris warmly supported all four pillars of the Honors College over the course of their UW careers. Because Janice and Duncan were particularly committed to international education, the Harris fund will primarily support international study for Honors students. Duncan taught in UW’s London semester and created the summer Shakespeare in England and Italy course, now in its 17th year. After a year of teaching near Osaka, Janice developed an ongoing study abroad course on Japanese culture, based partly on the campus of Kobe College. Together, they advanced international study at UW, and we are committed to doing the same.


The Duncan and Janice Harris Excellence Fund will also help fund excellence initiatives across the Honors College. These initiatives may include support for student research; visits from distinguished artists, scholars, diplomats, and policy-makers, allowing students to learn from them first-hand; and resources for faculty eager to develop innovative courses that challenge our students to think in exciting new ways.


With the help of the Harris fund, the Honors College will be able to deliver the world-class opportunities our Wyoming students deserve. Since our inception in 1959, UW Honors has had a remarkable record of enabling extraordinary students to succeed. We now aim for new levels of achievement as we prepare students to become leaders in the dynamically changing 21st century world.


Whether you were personally touched by Duncan and Janice or you simply support the Honors College’s mission of excellence, we invite you to donate to the Duncan and Janice Harris Excellence Fund. We are grateful for your support.