The Robert M. and Mary Haythornthwaite Foundation supports scientific research, primarily research in the field of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. The Foundation cooperates with the American Academy of Mechanics in awarding annual Prizes and Grants for advanced mechanics graduate students; Robert Haythornthwaite was founder and first President of the Academy. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Private Operating Foundation (EIN 23-2354559).
The Foundation currently supports:
| 2000-2001 | Ioannis Chasiotis, Cal Tech; Supervisor, Prof. Wolfgang Knauss, Fellow AAM |
| 2004-2005 | Charlotte Barbier, U. Virginia; Supervisor, Prof. J.A.C. Humphrey. Winning Essay by Charlotte Barbier |
| 2005-2006 | Vivek Verma, Penn State; Supervisor, Prof. J.M. Catchmark. Winning Essay by Vivek Verma |
| 2006-2007 | Patrick Dondl, Cal Tech; Supervisor, Prof. K. Bhattacharya |
| Vijay Shilpiekandula, MIT; Supervisor, Prof. K. Youcef-Tuomi | |
| Travel Award (close third), Nayden Kambouchev, MIT; Supervisor, Prof. R. Radovitzky | |
| 2007-2008 | Xuanhe Zhao, Harvard; Supervisor, Prof. Zhigang Suo |
| Yuebing Zheng, Penn State; Supervisor, Prof. Tony Jun Huang | |
| 2008-2009 | Ling Liu, Columbia; Supervisor, Prof. Xi Chen |