The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the

Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation (United States), private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly fo ...

of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several countries to spend time studying in the United States. Recipients of the scholarship include a president of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

; former Chairman and CEO of

Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and the most profitable firm on Wall Street durin ...

; a former Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

; the controller of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

; the editor of the '' Sunday Times''; former directors of the Medical Research Council, the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

and the General Medical Council; and a vice president of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

History

The

is a philanthropic foundation established in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Anna Harkness Anna Maria Richardson Harkness (October 25, 1837 – March 27, 1926) was an American philanthropist. Early life She was born on October 25, 1837, in Dalton, Ohio, and was the daughter of James Richardson and Anna (née Ranck) Richardson. Not muc ...

in 1918. Her son, Edward Stephen Harkness, initiated the Commonwealth Fund Fellowships in 1925. These were intended to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships by enabling British graduates to study in the United States. In 1927 the scheme was widened by the creation of Dominion Fellowships available to graduates from universities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. In 1929 a further category of Dominion Civil Service Fellowships was established. The awards were tenable from nine to fifteen months and candidates were to be under the age of 40. In 1961 the Fellowships were renamed the Harkness Fellowships. In addition to the Civil Service Fellowships, a new category of General Fellowships was set up, open to people in the fields of business, banking, politics, creative arts and journalism. The maximum tenure period was extended to 21 months. Since June 1997, the activities of the Harkness Fellowships have been limited to the field of health care. The Fellowships are now considered one of the most prestigious award programs in health policy, and accept Fellows from Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(known as Harkness Associates),

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

(as of 2009), Switzerland (as of 2009) and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. They are tenable for twelve months.

Current fellowship program

Harkness Fellows in Health Care Policy & Practice spend a year conducting research at American institutions such as

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, Brigham and Women's Hospital,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, Stanford University,

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser ...

, or the

Veterans Health Administration The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) led by the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health that implements the healthcare program of the VA through a nationa ...

. They gain an in-depth understanding of the U.S. health care system and policy challenges, enhance their research skills, and develop contacts and opportunities for ongoing international collaboration. In addition, Fellows attend a program of seminars during the year: *September: Orientation and

Qualitative Research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

Methodology Workshop *November: International Symposium on Healthcare Policy, bringing together Health Ministers from Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States *February: Washington Policy Briefing held on Capitol Hill with members of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

and senior government officials *May: Canadian Policy Briefing on Federal and provincial health *June: Final Reporting Seminar and the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting

Administration and funding

The programme is funded and administered by the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, with additional support for some Fellows coming from external bodies, namely: *B. Braun Stiftung and

Robert Bosch Stiftung The Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH () is a German foundation that owns a majority shareholding in Robert Bosch GmbH, from which it derives its funding. The foundation was established in accordance with the wishes of Robert Bosch, who died in 1942, an ...

(Germany) *Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (Canada) *Careum Foundation (Switzerland) *

Nuffield Trust The Nuffield Trust, formerly the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, is a charitable trust with the mission of improving health care in the UK through evidence and analysis. The Nuffield Trust is registered with the Charity Commission as char ...

and the

National Institute for Health and Care Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "im ...

(UK) *The

Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport ( nl, Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport; VWS) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for public health, health care, quality of life, social work and sport. The Ministry was created in 1951 as ...

(Netherlands)

Notable alumni

*Professor David Armitage, transnational historian *Professor

Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby, FRS (24 August 1904 – 22 October 1992) was a British botanist and educator. Born in Leytonstone in Essex, he was educated at the City of London School and the Royal College of Science, where he graduated with a ...

, British botanist and educator *Professor

Peter Atkins Peter William Atkins (born 10 August 1940) is an English chemist and a Fellow of Lincoln College at the University of Oxford. He retired in 2007. He is a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks, including ''Physical Chemistry'', ''Ino ...

, professor of chemistry at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

*Professor Sir

Jonathan Bate Sir Andrew Jonathan Bate, CBE, FBA, FRSL (born 26 June 1958), is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, poet, playwright, novelist and scholar. He specialises in Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He is Foundation Profes ...

, Shakespeare scholar and biographer *Professor

Patrick Bateson Sir Paul Patrick Gordon Bateson, (31 March 1938 – 1 August 2017) was an English biologist with interests in ethology and phenotypic plasticity. Bateson was a professor at the University of Cambridge and served as president of the Zoologi ...

, emeritus professor of

ethology Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objecti ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

*Professor Tim Beaglehole, chancellor of the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

*Sir

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...

, composer *Professor Colin Blakemore, neurobiologist and former chief executive of the Medical Research Council *Sir

Ronald Bottrall (Francis James) Ronald Bottrall (2 September 1906, Camborne, Cornwall – 25 June 1989) was a Cornish poet. He was praised highly by F.R. Leavis, Anthony Burgess and Martin Seymour-Smith, and deprecated by Ian Hamilton and Martin Amis. Bottral ...

, Cornish poet *Professor

Hugh Brogan Denis Hugh Vercingetorix Brogan (20 March 1936 – 26 July 2019) known as Hugh Brogan, was a British historian and biographer. Early life The son of Sir Denis Brogan and Olwen Phillis Francis (Lady Brogan), OBE, archaeologist and authority on R ...

, historian and biographer *Sir

George Malcolm Brown Sir George Malcolm Brown, FRS (5 October 1925 – 27 March 1997) was one of the most respected geologists of the second half of the twentieth century. His formidable reputation as an igneous petrologist enabled him to become one of the few scie ...

, geologist *Professor Sir

Roy Calne Sir Roy Yorke Calne, FRCP, FRCS, FRS (born 30 December 1930) is a British surgeon and pioneer in organ transplantation. Career His most notable achievements are the world's first liver, heart, and lung transplant together with John Wallwor ...

British surgeon who performed the world's first liver, heart, and lung transplant *Sir

Graeme Catto Sir Graeme Robertson Dawson Catto FRSE, Hon FRCSE, FRCP(Lon, Edin & Glasg), FRCGP, FFPM, FAoP, FMedSci FKC (born 24 April 1945) is a Scottish doctor who was president, later chair, of the General Medical Council until April 2009. He is al ...

, president of the General Medical Council *Reverend Professor Sarah Coakley, Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Professor of Divinity at the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

Alistair Cooke Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.KBE, journalist and broadcaster of '' Letter from America'' *Professor Sir

Steven Cowley Sir Steven Charles Cowley (born 1959) is a British theoretical physicist and international authority on nuclear fusion and astrophysical plasmas. He has served as director of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physic ...

Theoretical Physicist and Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. * Dr Nigel Howard Croft, Nigel H Croft, Quality Expert, and key architect of the International Organization for Standardization, ISO quality management standards (ISO 9001) *Professor Nicholas J. Cull, historian *Professor Marcus Cunliffe, former visiting professor of American studies at

*Mark Damazer, controller of

and BBC 7 *Sir Howard Davies (economist), Howard Davies, director of the London School of Economics and Political Science *Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, composer, conductor and Master of the Queen's Music *Professor Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne *Stuart Devlin, goldsmith and jeweller to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty the Queen *Dr Jennifer Dixon, CBE, FRCP, FFPH, Chief Executive of the Health Foundation *Professor John Montfort Dunn, emeritus professor of political theory at King's College, Cambridge *Professor John Dupré, philosopher *Freeman Dyson, scientist *Sir Harold Evans, former editor of the '' Sunday Times'' *Sir Terry Farrell (architect), Terry Farrell, architect of the MI6 Building *Professor Pamela Gillies, principal and vice-chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University *Fiona Godlee, editor, ''BMJ'' *Lawrence Goldman, historian and editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography *Anthony Green (painter), Anthony Green Royal Academy, RA, painter *Karl W. Gruenberg, British mathematician *Professor Jonathan Harvey (composer) *Tom Hayhoe, chairman of West London NHS Trust *Alastair Hetherington, editor of ''The Guardian'', 1956–1975 *Tony Hey Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, academic and corporate vice-president of technical computing at

*Dame Rosalyn Higgins, president of the

*Ronald Hilton, British-American academic who helped uncover the CIA’s clandestine preparations for the Bay of Pigs invasion *Peter Jenkins (journalist), Peter Jenkins, journalist *The Hon. Shane Jones, New Zealand politician *Professor Ralph Kekwick Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Biochemist *Bridget Kendall MBE, diplomatic correspondent for the BBC *Graeme Koehne, Australian composer and chair of the Australia Council's music board *Rem Koolhaas, architect and principal of Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA *Professor Nicola LeFanu, composer *Professor Koen Lenaerts, professor of European Law and judge at the European Court of Justice *Sue Lenier, English poet and playwright *Anthony Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, politician *Michael L'Estrange Officer of the Order of Australia, AO, Australian public servant and former Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom *Gwyneth Lewis, Welsh poet, the first National Poet for Wales *Professor David Lodge (author), David Lodge, British author *Piers Mackesy, military historian *Dr Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) *Deryck Maughan, Sir Deryck Maughan, former Chairman and CEO of

*Keith Milow, artist *Julian Mitchell, FRSL, playwright, screenwriter, novelist *Jan Morris Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, historian and travel writer *Professor Geoff Mulgan, former director of policy at 10 Downing Street and director of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit *Baron Murray of Newhaven, British academic *Sara Nathan (broadcaster), Sara Nathan OBE, broadcast journalist and regulator *Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, rabbi and social reformer *Peter Nicholls (writer), Australian literary scholar and critic *John Nicolson (journalist and broadcaster) *Professor Claus Offe, political sociologist *Professor Derek Parfit, philosopher *Baron Penney, physicist responsible for the development of British nuclear technology *Peter Phillips (artist), Peter Phillips, artist and pioneer of pop art *Professor Randolph Quirk, British linguist, former Quain Professor at University College London. *Professor Dame Anne Marie Rafferty Order of the British Empire (DBE), DBE, British nurse, currently Professor of Nursing Policy Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College London and President of the Royal College of Nursing, UK. *Peter Sands (banker), Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered plc * Malcolm Singer, composer, conductor and Director of Music, Yehudi Menuhin School *Richard Smith (artist), Richard Smith, painter and printmaker *Randolph Stow, Australian writer *Andrew Sullivan, writer, blogger and gay rights activist *Professor Barry Trimmer, biologist and creator of the world's first soft-bodied robot *Professor Rudolf G. Wagner, sinologist *Professor Sir David Wallace (physicist), David Wallace, director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge and master of Churchill College, Cambridge *Professor Denis Weaire, Irish physicist *Brett Whiteley, Australian artist *Professor Sir David Glyndwr Tudor Williams, former List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge *Professor Jonathan Wolff (philosopher), Jonathan Wolff, former chair of philosophy at University College London. *Adrian Wooldridge, Washington bureau chief and "Lexington" columnist for The Economist *Professor Esmond Wright, historian *Hugo Young, British journalist *Professor Sir Erik Christopher Zeeman, mathematician *Ruth Louisa Cohen CBE, economisthttp://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/cohen-ruth-louisa#bibliography Natasha Lehrer, Natasha Obituary Ruth Louisa Cohen Jewish Women's Archive *Professor Christina Pagel, Health services researcher and mathematician, Director of the UCL Clinical Operational Research Unit

References and notes

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External links

Harkness FellowshipsHarkness Fellows Association and Transatlantic Trust (Alumni Association)
Awards established in 1925 Fellowships Scholarships in the United States 1925 establishments in New York (state) Harkness family