As the establishment of a new college in Cambridge was becoming a reality, Sir Winston Churchill met with American friends to ask them to create a mechanism for young American to study at the college. Among those friends was Lewis W. Douglas, a graduate of Amherst College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain from 1947 to 1950. Carl Gilbert, chairman of the Gillette Company, was the first chairman of the Foundation.
The first Churchill Scholarships, three in number, were awarded in 1963 and funded one year of study. Shortly thereafter the Scholarships were available either for one-year programs or for doctoral studies at Cambridge. In the early 1980’s the Foundation decided to support only one-year programs in order to increase the number of Churchill Scholars. In its early years the Foundation also made small travel grants to Churchill Fellows, distinguished senior faculty who would spend one year at the College. Eight of the Churchill Fellows won the Nobel Prize.
The Winston Churchill Foundation awards at least thirteen Scholarships and hopes to increase that number to fifteen soon. The one-year awards lead to the Masters of Philosophy (MPhil), the Certificate of Post-Graduate Study (CPGS in different fields), the Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS in theoretical or applied mathematics), and a Diploma (in Computer Science).
For more information, please stop by the Academic Center for Enrichment (ACE) or email
ummace@morris.umn.edu.
