On October 18, 2003, one of the authors had the privilege of giving one of the keynote speeches to the Ford Foundation Fellows Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, that was titled "The Making of a Ford Fellow: A Trek Towards Excellence in Applied Social Science," which explained that he managed to develop some of the ideas that led to the formation of some innovations in his field. By the title, he wanted to show that without the fellowship program, it would have been almost impossible for him to enter and complete a doctoral program in anthropology and eventually to have some modest impacts on the field. As he looked over those new cohorts during his talk, he realized that almost 30 years later they wouldn't be there to hear his lecture if it weren't for the program. The author raised the issue that there was a paucity of information of the impact of the fellowship program, especially on Mexican-origin and Puerto Rican students who were afforded the opportunity to be supported through graduate school. This article presents preliminary data to examine the manner in which the Ford Fellows Program intellectually and academically affects American higher education and especially those awards afforded to individuals of Mexican and Puerto Rican origin (1970-1990). (Contains 5 tables and 11 figures.)