The Wallace Patillo Reed Distinguished Graduate Fellowship was established by William F. Ryan ‘90 in December 2020 to provide merit-based support for graduate students in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science in the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS). The Wallace Patillo Reed Distinguished Graduate Fellowship funds were established in honor of Tuskegee Airmen, Wallace Patillo Reed (1919-1999). In addition to being the first African-American meteorologist in the military, Capt. Reed is believed to have been the Weather Bureau’s first African-American meteorologist.