Auburn University selected for prestigious Churchill Scholarship program

Auburn University has been selected to participate in the prestigious Churchill Scholarship program in which students are eligible to apply for graduate studies at the University of Cambridge’s Churchill College in the United Kingdom.

“We join a select group of colleges and universities nationwide who can nominate up to two seniors in STEM disciplines of physical and natural sciences, engineering and mathematics,” said Paul Harris, associate director of national prestigious scholarships at Auburn.

The one-year scholarship, administered by the Winston Churchill Foundation, was created in 1963 at the request of Churchill to fulfill his vision of U.S.-U.K. scientific exchange with the goal of advancing science and technology on both sides of the Atlantic, helping to ensure mutual future prosperity and security. Churchill served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, leading Britain to victory in World War II, and again from 1951 to 1955. He died in 1965.

Only 15 Churchill Scholarships of approximately $60,000 are awarded annually.

“The scholarship is considered one of the most prestigious and competitive international fellowships available to American graduate students, alongside the Marshall, Rhodes and Gates Cambridge scholarships,” Harris said.

Auburn’s success in consistently having Rhodes Scholarship finalists as well as two Rhodes, two Marshall and two Gates Cambridge winners the past several years contributed to being selected by the Churchill Foundation, according to Harris.

Auburn students will be eligible to apply for the scholarship in fall 2019. More information about the Winston Churchill Scholarship program is available at www.churchillscholarship.org.

Also associated with the University of Cambridge, Auburn has two students who have been named finalists for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship to do post-graduate work there. Senior Mina Narayanan, who is majoring in software engineering and political science, and 2017 architecture graduate Josiah Brown will interview in Washington, D.C., in late January for the honor.

Gates Cambridge Scholarships are awarded to college students and recent graduates based on four criteria: intellectual ability; leadership capacity; a desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world by providing service to their communities and applying their talents and knowledge to improve the lives of others; and demonstrating a good fit between the applicants’ abilities and aspirations to the graduate program. More information about the Gates Cambridge Scholarship is available at https://www.gatescambridge.org/programme.