New US Gates Cambridge Scholars announced

  • February 12, 2014
New US Gates Cambridge Scholars announced

Forty of the most academically brilliant and socially committed young people in the US will take up a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge this autumn.

Forty of the most academically brilliant and socially committed young people in the US will take up a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge this autumn as the programme continues to expand to a diverse range of institutions across North America.
 
The 40 Scholars represent 35 institutions, five of which have never had a Gates Cambridge Scholar before. The five new institutions are the University of Puget Sound in Washington, the University of Wyoming, California State University in Fresno, Carleton University in Ontario, Canada and the Medical College of Georgia. Twenty-two of the institutions where the new Scholars have studied previously are private, with 13 being public.  Six are Ivy League colleges. The Scholars come from 21 US states.
 
The gender ratio continues to be in favour of women with 23 of the 40 being women. This is broadly consistent with the last three years of the total intake which have seen women make up the majority of Scholars.
 
While 18 of the 35 colleges and universities are in the Times Higher Education’s top 100 world university rankings, 11 do not even rank in the top 400, highlighting the broad range of institutions and the high level of access for outstanding candidates from any college or university.
 
The postgraduate scholarship programme was established through a US$210 million donation to the University of Cambridge from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2001, which remains the largest single donation to a UK university.  Competition for places is fierce and the programme is unique in its emphasis on social leadership as well as outstanding academic ability.
 
The successful 40 candidates, 28 of whom will study for one-year master’s degree courses and 12 of whom will pursue PhD degrees, were whittled down from an initial field of 800 applicants. The 89 shortlisted candidates were interviewed by US and Cambridge academics at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s offices in Seattle, who kindly hosted the interviews, on 31 Jan and 1 Feb 2014.
 
The US Scholars will join 55 Scholars from other parts of the world, who will be announced later this year. At any one time the Gates Cambridge Trust aims to support 225 Scholars at the University of Cambridge. For this reason its Trustees have increased the total number of Scholarships from 90 to 95 for 2014 entry with the hope that this will be sustainable in the longer term, given the mix of one-year and PhD courses being undertaken.
 
Professor Barry Everitt, Provost of the Gates Cambridge Trust, said: “We are delighted to announce our new US Scholars. They are an outstanding group of individuals from a very diverse range of backgrounds who are both intellectually exceptional and show a dedication to improving the lives of others. We look to them as future leaders who will change the world for the better.”
 
*Bios and photos of the new US Scholars are available here. Picture credit: Sir Cam.

Latest News

The process of history-making

Olin Moctezuma-Burns [2020] is keen not to repeat the patterns of some past researchers and to give back to the communities she studies. For that reason she recently co-organised an international gathering of Imagining Futures projects on archiving indigenous and traditional knowledges in Sotuta, Yucatan. The meeting brought together people from Colombia, Peru, Kenya, Tanzania, […]

How might extreme heat contribute to human migration?

Rising temperatures due to climate change are likely influencing human migration patterns, according to a new study co-authored by Gates Cambridge Scholar Dr Kim van Daalen [2018]. The study, led by Rita Issa of University College London, is published today in the open-access journal PLOS Climate. It looks at the role of heat in human […]

Scholar scoops prestigious science innovation fellowship

Freja Ekman has been named one of the 2023 class of Hertz Fellows as the prestigious fellowship celebrates its 60th year. The 15 fellowships in applied science, engineering and mathematics are awarded by Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, a non-profit organisation for innovators in science and technology. Winners will have their graduate studies funded for […]

Scholar hosts first UN communications technology access meeting in India

Gates Cambridge Scholar Pradipta Biswas has hosted a UN meeting on improving access to communications technology – the first ever held in India. The meeting of ITU-T Study Group 9 (SG-9) on “Broadband Cable and Television/Audiovisual content transmission and integrated broadband cable networks”  was held in May at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru […]