The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of ...

of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office that awards scholarships and fellowships to American students for postgraduate and postdoctoral study and research at UK universities.

History

The commission was established by the ''Marshall Aid Commemoration Act 1953'' of the UK Parliament, in recognition of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

, which had provided economic support to Western Europe (including the UK) in the aftermath of the Second World War. The principal architect of the scheme was Sir Roger Makins (1904-1996), a Deputy Under Secretary in the Foreign Office. Soon after the bill was passed by parliament Makins was appointed

British Ambassador to the United States The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America. T ...

. He was subsequently ennobled as Baron Sherfield. The commission has up to ten members, who are appointed by the British Government. The first chairman was Sir

Oliver Franks Oliver Shewell Franks, Baron Franks (16 February 1905 – 15 October 1992) was an English civil servant and philosopher who has been described as 'one of the founders of the postwar world'. Franks was involved in Britain's recovery after the S ...

(1905-1992), who had been British Ambassador to the US while the Marshall Plan was in operation. The work of the commission is administered by the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Twelve Marshall scholarships were awarded in the first year. The number of awards increased over the years with forty new awards made in 2017. Since 1954, approximately 1,800 Marshall Scholarships have been awarded. Marshall Sherfield Fellowships were established in 1997 for postdoctoral research. The fellowships are named after Lord Sherfield, who as Sir Roger Makins was the architect of the commission. Total expenditure in the year to March 2016 was £2,157,267, of which 93% was funded by the UK government. Some scholarships were jointly funded from other sources.

Marshall Scholarships

Marshall Scholarships are for postgraduate study by US students at UK universities. Candidates are nominated by US universities and are interviewed by eight regional committees in the US, based at the British Consulates-General and at the British Embassy in Washington DC. The scholarships can cover courses of study from one or two years, extendable to three years. They pay university fees, a living allowance and travel from and to the US. Additional allowances are available for books and for research travel.

Marshall Sherfield Fellowships

Marshall Sherfield Fellowships support up to two American

postdoctoral researchers A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

to study at a UK university or research institute.

Marshall Medals

Marshall Medals are awarded every ten years by the commission, ''"to people of outstanding achievement whose contribution to British-American understanding, distinguished role in public life, or creative energy, reflect the legacy of George C Marshall."''

Commissioners

* Christopher Fisher (Chair) * Janet Legrand (Deputy Chair) *

Alan Bookbinder Alan Peter Bookbinder (born 16 March 1956) is a British journalist, charity executive, and academic administrator. Since October 2018, he has served as Master of Downing College, Cambridge. He previously worked for the BBC, and was Director of th ...

* Professor

Brian Cantor Brian Cantor CBE FREng (born 11 January 1948) is long serving university leader, a Visiting Professor in the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford and a Research Professor at the Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology ...

* Suzanne McCarthy * Professor Simon Newman * Barbara Ridpath * Xenia Wickett *

Lord Wood of Anfield Stewart Martin Wood, Baron Wood of Anfield (born 25 March 1968) is a Labour life peer in the House of Lords. Early life Wood grew up in Tonbridge, Kent, and attended the Judd School. In 1986 he went to University College, Oxford, where he obtai ...

References

External links

{{Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government 1953 establishments in the United Kingdom United Kingdom–United States relations