Marshall Scholarship

The official logo of the Marshall Scholarship is a blended image of the US and UK flags.

Marshall Scholarships are widely recognized as among the most prestigious awards a graduating American undergraduate can receive. They were created by the British Parliament when the Marshall Aid Commemoration Act was passed on July 31, 1953. The scholarships serve as a living gift to the United States of America in recognition of the post World War II European recovery effort most commonly known as the Marshall Plan.

The Marshall Scholarships serve to provide highly qualified students with two fully funded years of study, with a possible third year extension, at any university in the United Kingdom. In addition to pure academic pursuits, the program serves to provide the future leaders of America with an insight into the "British ideals and way of life" and strengthen the "unique relationship" that exists between the United States and the United Kingdom. Each year, between 3 and 4 percent of applicants receive the scholarship. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.7 or higher to be nominated.

Following their studies, Marshall Scholars have historically pursed a wide range of careers with many alumni holding elite leadership positions in business, academia, government or non-profit organizations.

Although the Marshall Scholarships share much in common with the Rhodes Scholarships (restricted to just Oxford University), the major difference centers on a Marshall Scholar's freedom to attend any UK university including the ability to attend a different university each year during a scholar's tenure. A significant portion of scholars choose to attend either Oxford, Cambridge, or one of the major London institutions, but during the past 50 years scholars have attended a wide range of universities throughout the UK. Also, since its inception the Marshall Scholarship has been open to both men and women, while the Rhodes scholarship only became open to women beginning in 1977 following the passage of the British Sex Discrimination Act of 1975. The first class of Marshall Scholars, which began academic study in the fall of 1954, consisted of eight men and four women selected from a pool of 700 applicants.

Overview of the Scholarships

Selection criteria

The published objectives of the Marshall Scholarships are outlined as follows:

To enable intellectually distinguished young Americans, their country's future leaders, to study in the UK.
To help scholars gain an understanding and appreciation of contemporary Britain.
To contribute to the advancement of knowledge in science, technology, the humanities and social sciences and the creative arts at Britain's centres of academic excellence.
To motivate scholars to act as ambassadors from the USA to the UK and vice versa throughout their lives thus strengthening British American understanding.
To promote the personal and academic fulfilment of each scholar.

With these objectives in mind, the selection criteria are set out to select roughly 40 scholars each year from an extremely competitive pool of America's top undergraduate students. The selection process is run through the eight major British Embassy and Consulate Regions in the United States (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington DC). Selection committees, consisting of former scholars and other distinguished individuals, centered in each region receive applications consisting of personal statements and essays which are used to select a short list of candidates for interviews. The committee then interviews each of the finalists prior to making the final decisions on the year's awards. Although most of the responsibility for selecting the recipients is in the hands of the committee, a few formal guidelines have been outlined in the official selection criteria. Most notably:

"As future leaders, with a lasting understanding of British society, Marshall Scholars will strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments and their institutions. Marshall Scholars are talented, independent and wide-ranging in their interests, and their time as Scholars will enhance their intellectual and personal growth. Their direct engagement with Britain through its best academic programmes will contribute to their ultimate personal success."

and

"In appointing Scholars the selectors will look for distinction of intellect and character as evidenced both by their scholastic attainments and by their other activities and achievements. Preference will be given to candidates who display a potential to make a significant contribution to their own society. Selectors will also look for strong motivation and seriousness of purpose, including the presentation of a specific and realistic academic programme."

The impact of the Scholarships

In a letter to the first class of Marshall Scholars, George Marshall echoed his own words in initially presenting his ideas for European recovery by saying "A close accord between our two countries is essential to the good of mankind in this turbulent world of today, and that is not possible without an intimate understanding of each other. These scholarships point the way to the continuation and growth of the understanding which found its necessity in the terrible struggle of the war years."

Now, over 50 years after the British Parliament created the program, the Marshall Scholarships have had a clear impact on the world and in particular the special relationship that exists between the US and UK. Marshall Scholars can be found as CEOs, on the Supreme Court, as members of Congress, in Presidential Cabinets, as university Presidents, Pulitzer Prize winning authors, and leaders in a wide range of academic and professional disciplines.

Selected notable Marshall Scholars

Graham Allison – Noted foreign policy expert and former dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government; former undersecretary of Defense
Anne Applebaum – Pulitzer Prize winning author/journalist and columnist for the Washington Post
Bruce Babbitt – Former Governor of Arizona and U.S. Secretary of the Interior for President Bill Clinton
Rosa Brooks Los Angeles Times Columnist and Georgetown law professor
Bill Buford Founding editor of Granta, New Yorker staff writer
Stephen Breyer – Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1994
William Joseph Burns – U.S. Ambassador to Russia and former Undersecretary of State
Patrick M. Byrne – Chairman of the Board and President of Overstock.com
Ray Dolby – Inventor of Dolby Sound and Chairman of Dolby Laboratories
Thomas Friedman – Multiple Pulitzer Prize winning author/journalist and columnist for the New York Times
Jeffrey Gettleman – Journalist for the New York Times
Marty Kaplan – Associate Dean for Programs and Planning of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and director of the Norman Lear Center for the study of entertainment
Nannerl Keohane – Former President of both Duke University (1993–2004) and Wellesley College (1981–1993)
Michael Klarman – Brancroft Prize winner and constitutional law scholar at the University of Virginia
Harold Koh – Dean of the Yale Law School
Peter Kramer – Author of Listening to Prozac (1993)
Nicole Krauss Novelist, History of Love
Peter Orszag Director, Congressional Budget Office
Jeffrey Rosen – Author, law professor, and legal affairs editor at The New Republic
John Spratt – Congressman for South Carolina's 5th District
Kathleen Sullivan – Professor and former Dean of the Stanford Law School
Ed Victor – journalist and literary agent
Mark Whitaker – Editor of Newsweek magazine
Daniel Yergin – Pulitzer Prize winning author and noted economic researcher

Interesting facts about the Marshall Scholarship

Distribution of Scholars: For the 2003-04 academic year there were 93 Marshall Scholars in residence at British Universities including those who were selected for the classes of 2001, 2002, and 2003. During this time there were 47 Scholars at Oxford University, 15 at Cambridge University, 21 at London based institutions, and the remaining Scholars at several other universities throughout the UK. Of these 93 Scholars, 69 were studying Arts and Social Sciences subjects while 24 were studying Science, Engineering or Mathematics.

Marshall Medals: As part of the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of the Marshall Scholarships, Marshall Medals were awarded to a group of distinguished Americans in recognition of their contributions to US/UK relations. The recipients were Justice Stephen Breyer (1959 Marshall Scholar)), Dr. Ray Dolby (1957 Marshall Scholar), Thomas L. Friedman (1975 Marshall Scholar), President Nannerl Keohane (1961 Marshall Scholar), Christopher Makins, Senator George J. Mitchell, and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Traveling to the UK: In the early years of the Marshall Scholarship it was common for new Scholars to travel together to the UK via cruise ship, but now Scholars are usually flown to London from Washington DC following a welcoming program with top US and UK government and diplomatic officials.

Fictional Marshall Scholars: The West Wing character Will Bailey said that he was a "President of Cambridge Union on a Marshall Scholarship" during the season 4 episode "Arctic Radar." In real life, a Marshall Scholar was elected Treasurer of the Cambridge Union for the Lent Term of 2006 and the Secretary and Vice President for Easter 2006 - Lent 2007.

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