Named after the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University (1895), the idea for the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research was proposed in the Report of the Faculty Committee on African and Afro-American Studies dated 20 January 1969. In May of 1975 in its progress report to President Derek C. Bok, the Institute's Advisory Board announced the establishment of four fellowships for the 1975-1976 academic year. The fellowships were intended to "facilitate the writing of doctoral dissertations in areas related to Afro-American studies." As such, the Du Bois Institute is the nation's oldest research center dedicated to the study of the history, culture, and social institutions of Africans and African Americans.