The Georgia Historical Society recently created a new research fellowship program honoring former University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, a historian himself and a former chair of the historical society’s board of curators.

The Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Fellows Program will be supported by a $1.2 million dollar endowment funded by “friends and admirers” of Dooley, according to a historical society news release.

The society’s announcement listed donors to the fund, a which includes names such as current UGA football coach Kirby Smart, former Augusta National Golf Club and Masters chairman (and former UGA football player) Billy Payne as well as prominent Georgia business leaders.

The new program will recognize senior scholars in history as helping younger historians by providing funds for research in the Georgia Historical Society Research Center in Savannah.

Donations are still being sought for the endowment. For more information, contact Patricia Meagher, the society’s communications director, at [email protected] or (912) 651-2125, ext. 153.