Two University scholars recently received $57,000 from the New York-based Ford Foundation to write non-fiction accounts of "problems and issues unique to contemporary American society."

The foundation announced last week that Ann J. Lane, research associate at the Bunting Institute, and Michael J. Sandel, instructor of Government, were among 23 writers selected from an international applicant pool of 1500 to participate in a new $847,000 writing program.

Both Lane and Sandel "are extraordinarily brilliant scholars" who can "offer a humanistic perspective on unique contemporary social issues and trends," Richard S. Sharpe, chairman of the program's selection committee said yesterday.

Sharpe added that the foundation created the writing program last spring to provide financial support for writers of non-ficiton who often have trouble securing money from publishers.

Sandel said he plans to take a one year leave of absence next fall from his two University courses--Government 90b and Moral Reasoning 22--and use his $35,000 award to write a book on American liberalism.

With her grant of $22,000 Lane will write a biography of Charlotte Gilman, American feminist born in the late 19th century, Sharpe said. Lane was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Founded in 1936 by automobile manufacturer Henry Ford, the Ford Foundation has become the nation's largest philanthropic organization with resources totalling more than $2.6 billion, a foundation spokesman said yesterday.