The University of Alabama at Birmingham Honors College, in conjunction with the British Consulate in Atlanta, hosted top students from Alabama in an event honoring the Marshall Scholarship.
The scholarship was founded by an act of Parliament in 1953 in honor of U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall and his Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after the devastation of World War II. The scholarship celebrates the continued close relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom by financing American students to study for a graduate degree in the United Kingdom.
Her Majesty’s Consul General Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford, Regional Marshall Scholarship chairman Jeffrey Rosensweig, Ph.D., and UAB President Ray L. Watts, M.D., addressed students and fellowship advisors from seven Alabama universities. Mandy Smith, executive officer of the British Consulate-General Atlanta, Senior Vice Provost Suzanne Austin, Ph.D., and Honors College Dean Shannon Blanton, Ph.D., joined the reception. Ashley Floyd, Director of the Office of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships, coordinated the statewide event for the first time in 2013 and again this year.
“UAB is honored to host this reception and we, along with other universities represented here, are very proud to be part of the longtime, special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K.,” Watts said. “UAB is a university that thrives on local and global collaboration and, as such, we have a number of fruitful research, technology, health care and education partnerships with U.K. universities and medical centers.”
| “UAB is a university that thrives on local and global collaboration and, as such, we have a number of fruitful research, technology, health care and education partnerships with U.K. universities and medical centers.” |
Pilmore-Bedford highlighted Britain’s multicultural society and modern, high-tech industries, as well as the type of student that makes an ideal Marshall Scholar.
“We’re looking for academic firepower and ambassadorial potential,” he said. “As a result, we’ve seen some very well-known people secure Marshall Scholarships in all walks of life.”
UAB student Jason Lott won a Marshall Scholarship in 2001, and several UAB students have been regional finalists. The most recent winner from Alabama was Patrick Donnan, a 2014 graduate of Auburn University.
Students interested in scholarship and fellowship opportunities like the Marshall should visit the Office of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships, part of the UAB Honors College.