UK Government announces 2019 Marshall Scholarship winners and largest class in scholarship history
The British Government today unveiled the recipients of the 2019 Marshall Scholarships, the largest class in the scholarship programme’s 65-year history.
48 outstanding undergraduate students from across the United States were selected, marking the 3rd straight year in which the number of awards has grown and a 50 percent increase in scholarships offered since 2016.
Sir Kim Darroch, the British Ambassador to the United States said:
My warmest congratulations to the new generation of Marshall Scholars, who make up the largest intake in the history of the scholarship.
This class embodies the qualities that bind our two countries: a spirit of collaboration, an intellectual curiosity and a commitment to education and diversity. The British Government is proud to welcome these scholars to their studies in the UK. The scholarship programme has never been stronger and is a wonderful demonstration of the strength of our transatlantic bond.
Christopher Fisher, who chairs the Marshall Scholarship Program, added:
This further increase in the number of awards reflects growing support from leading British universities and colleges as well as the continuing commitment of the British Government. I very much welcome the strong message this sends as to the enduring value of the Marshall Scholarship Program and believe we now have a sustainable model to be making 45-48 awards in future years.
The 2019 Marshall Scholarship class that will travel to the UK next year will also be the most diverse class in history: over 40% of the 2019 class are from minority backgrounds and the 29 women selected represent the largest number of women ever selected in a single class. This achievement symbolically coincides with today’s launch of NASA Astronaut and Marshall Scholar (’02) Anne McClain to the International Space Station, where she’ll be one of the youngest Astronauts ever to serve aboard the orbiting station.
Two US undergraduate institutions, Whitman College (WA) and Georgia College & State University, will send Marshall Scholars to the UK for the first time in their schools’ histories, while Dickinson College (PA) won its first Marshall Scholarship since 1974. Overall, the 2019 class represent a wide range of academic backgrounds and includes Guinness World Record holders, award-winning independent filmmakers, Division I athletes, TedX speakers, accomplished poets and four service academy graduates who will begin service in the U.S. Military upon completion of their degrees.
Winners were selected following a rigorous and high-competitive selection process that drew over 1,000 applications from top undergraduate students representing institutions across the United States. The program is principally funded by the British Government, but also benefits from generous support through partnership arrangements with world-leading British academic institutions, allowing winners to pursue graduate degrees in almost any academic subject at any university in the UK. The 2019 class will take up their studies at institutions across the UK beginning in September next year.
The scholarship program also continues to receive generous support from the Association of Marshall Scholars (AMS), the official alumni organisation of the Marshall Scholarship. Through the AMS, alumni provide substantial support to the program and current scholars on a continual basis in a variety of ways.
Dr. Nell Breyer, Executive Director of the Association of Marshall Scholars (AMS) said:
The next generation of American leaders – exemplified in the 2019 Marshall Scholar class – will play an important role in strengthening the ties between the United Kingdom and the United States.
The AMS is proud to welcome 48 outstanding individuals to the generations of Marshall Scholars committed to advancing knowledge, international understanding and prosperity of our two nations.
The full list of 2019 winners of the Marshall Scholarship are:
| Student | U.S. University | UK University |
|---|---|---|
| Mallika Balakrishnan | Agnes Scott College | University of St. Andrews |
| Rachel Bass | Grinnell College | University of Edinburgh |
| Ariana Benson | Spelman College | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| David Bindon | U.S. Military Academy | London School of Economics & Political Science |
| John Brake | University of Virginia | University of Cambridge |
| Amanda Burcroff | University of Michigan | University of Cambridge |
| Theodore Caputi | University of Pennsylvania | University of York |
| Sofia Carozza | University of Notre Dame | University of Cambridge |
| Claire Celestin | Northeastern University | King’s College London |
| Akshayaa Chittibabu | University of Connecticut | University of Oxford |
| Gabriella Cook Francis | CUNY-Hunter College | University of Oxford |
| Christopher Crum | Bates College | University of Oxford |
| Robert Drummond | U.S. Military Academy | University of Cambridge |
| Dina Eldawy | Syracuse University | University of Sussex |
| Brian Ferguson | Georgetown University | University of Oxford |
| Nina Finley | Whitman College | Royal Veterinary College |
| Katherine Gallagher | University of Notre Dame | University of Oxford |
| Ararat Gocmen | Princeton University | University College London |
| Laura Hallas | University of Texas – Austin | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| Lyndon Hanrahan | Harvard University | Royal College of Art |
| Jonah Herzog-Arbeitman | Princeton University | University of Oxford |
| Margaret Hilderbran | University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill | University of Edinburgh |
| Myrial Holbrook | Princeton University | University of Cambridge |
| Deepti Kannan | Stanford University | University of Cambridge |
| Morgan King | West Virginia University | University College London |
| Justin Lee | Harvard University | University of Oxford |
| Patrick Liu | Northwestern University | University of Oxford |
| Lucy Mahaffey | University of Oklahoma | University of Nottingham |
| Radha Mastandrea | MIT | University of Cambridge |
| Havana McElvaine | University of Washington – Seattle | London School of Economics & Political Science |
| Noah McNeal | University of Michigan | University of Sussex |
| Manuel Medrano | Harvard University | University of St. Andrews |
| Vaibhav Mohanty | Harvard University | University of Oxford |
| Kevin Morris | Georgia College & State University | University College London |
| Sarah Nakasone | University of Chicago | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| Kaytie Nielsen | Carnegie Mellon University | National Film & Television School |
| Kathryn O’Nell | MIT | University of Oxford |
| Clarissa Pacyna | Johns Hopkins University | University of Cambridge |
| Aneesh Pappu | Stanford University | University of Oxford |
| Janel Pineda | Dickinson College | Goldsmiths, University of London |
| Jeremy Ratcliff | Johns Hopkins University | University of Oxford |
| Anne Richter | U.S. Naval Academy | University of Sheffield |
| Anna Sappington | MIT | University College London |
| Madeleine Schneider | U.S. Military Academy | University of Edinburgh |
| Kyle Swanson | MIT | University of Cambridge |
| Julie Uchitel | Duke University | University of Cambridge |
| Shomik Verma | Duke University | University of Cambridge |
| Crystal Winston | MIT | Imperial College London |
About the Marshall Scholarship
Named for Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the Marshall Scholarship Program began in 1953 as a gesture of gratitude to the people of the United States for the assistance that the UK received after World War II under the Marshall Plan. Since that time, it has remained uniquely positioned among national scholarships for its prestige and scope: offering talented young Americans the chance to study any academic subject at UK universities of their choice for up to 3 years. This has given rise to an unprecedented breadth of expertise in almost every academic field, producing numerous university presidents, six Pulitzer Prize winners, one Nobel Laureate, fourteen MacArthur Fellows, two-academy-Award nominees, two Supreme Court Justices and a NASA Astronaut.
With over 2,200 scholarships awarded to date, Marshall Scholars are leading the conversation and direction of some of the most critical issues of our time. Prominent alumni of the scholarship program include:
- Supreme Court Associate Justices Stephen Breyer and Neil Gorsuch
- Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Anne Applebaum, Tom Friedman, Jeffrey Gettleman and Dan Yergin
- William Burns, Former US Deputy Secretary of State
- Reid Hoffman, Philanthropist and founder of social networking platform LinkedIn.
- Anne McClain, NASA Astronaut currently serving aboard the International Space Station.
- Joshua Oppenheimer, Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker
- Dr. Douglas Melton, Xander University Professor at Harvard University and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Nancy Gibbs, Former Managing Editor of TIME Magazine
- Roger Tsien, 2008 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry
- Ray Dolby, Inventor of Dolby Sound and former Chairman of Dolby Laboratories
For media inquiries about the Marshall Scholarship and the recipients, please contact Josh Stanton, Head of Youth Engagement at the British Embassy, at Joshua.stanton@fco.gov.uk