The Daphne Zepos Research Award (DZRA) is an annual scholarship given to food industry professionals to further their learning—and their ability to educate others—about cheese. It’s named in honor of Daphne Zepos, one of America’s most inspiring cheese teachers.

Click here to read Daphne’s Vision.

Yes. The Daphne Zepos Teaching Award (DZTA), our larger $7,500 annual scholarship is given to a food industry professionals to further their learning —and their ability to educate others—about cheese, specifically through traveling. The DZTA application season runs after the DZRA application season in case applicants would like to rework their application.

Any individual who has worked in the food industry for a minimum of 3 of the past 6 years.  Applicants are expected to have a strong interest and devotion to the cheese or food industry, with a clear vision of how their research will benefit both their career and the broader cheese community. This can include a wide range of professionals, such as cheesemakers, cheesemongers, sales people, researchers, chefs, food scientists, or anyone whose work work is related to cheese research or innovation. 

Applicants can be from anywhere in the world as long as they prove that the educational work they produce has an impact on the North American cheese industry (e.g. needs to be available in English and/or Spanish).  Grant funds will not ensure travel to teach the work in person so take this into consideration.

The DZRA scholarship is $3,000.

The recipient must submit a research plan and a request for funds to board of directors for approval (provide a step-by-step outline of how the research will be conducted in the format of a vision).

The board of directors of the Daphne Zepos Teaching Endowment. The board is made up of a diverse group of individuals from various areas of the cheese industry including production, affinage, distribution, sales, marketing, and education. They represent different levels of experience and backgrounds in the hopes of providing an audience our applicants can relate to.

The Board of Directors seeks a compelling vision from someone who wants to make a lasting educational impact in the cheese world. They’re looking for someone who can make the most of the funds with a proven track record of getting things done. Most importantly, the board’s aim is to pick a candidate that will leverage their position as a DZRA recipient to be an industry teacher and leader for years to come.

Apply again! A number of our award recipients applied two, three, or four times before receiving the award. After the award is announced, each applicant receives detailed anonymous feedback from the board about their submission and is invited to discuss this feedback with our administrative team and Advisory Committee, if desired. This feedback can be very helpful in honing and growing your project.