UF alumnus Dr. Robert Jerry Britt Jr. was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow in the Department of Geosciences and an outstanding young scientist working at the Florida Museum of Natural History in the field of paleobiology. He was recipient of the first Florida Museum Associates Dissertation Research Fellowship. Jerry died in 1987 at the age of 24 while engaged in fieldwork for his dissertation. He was awarded a posthumous Ph.D. from UF in 1988.

The Britt Endowment was established by Jerry’s parents, friends and colleagues to provide funds for an annual award in his honor. The Britt Award has been presented each year since 1988 to an outstanding UF student (undergraduate or graduate) working on paleobiological research in the Florida Museum of Natural History. A committee of museum faculty and staff select the winner from the applications that are received each year. The winner is recognized on a perpetual plaque that hangs in the museum and receives a financial award used to reimburse research expense