Scholarships Provide Seven Seniors Study at Cambridge

In the inaugural year of the Gates Scholarship, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has named seven Harvard students recipients of the award.

Similar to the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships, the Gates Scholarships fund study at Cambridge University.

But in contrast to the older, established scholarships, the Gates allows students to study for up to four years and also provides more generous economic rewards, including airfare to London and up to $9,000 of spending money.

The scholarship, endowed with $210 million by the Gates Foundation, was established to provide education for aspiring world leaders in the field of public health care and international development.

Students were selected based upon their academic performance and leadership capabilities. The scholarship requires applicants to undergo a rigorous interview process and to submit letters of recommendation.

Seven Harvard seniors were among the handful of American students selected to receive the prize. Jessica A. Pepp `96 has also been selected.

The selection process is not yet complete, and so there may be more Harvard students announced in the final group of recipients, which is expected to number between 40 and 60 students.

Christopher M. Kirchhoff `01, a history and science concentrator from Winthrop House, said he is very excited about going to England next year and also said he admires the goal of the scholarship program.

"From Bill Gates' point of view, the purpose of the scholarship is to develop a network of leaders that will work on world problems," Kirchhoff said. "Gates has taken a strong interest in public health and reducing inequalities around the world...It's a major honor to have been selected."

Anne L. Berry `01, an economics concentrator, said she expects to use this scholarship to earn a master's degree in economics during the 2001-2002 school year. Berry's studies will focus on the international implications of government intervention with Internet regulation.

"I'm very happy to have the opportunity to go to school again," Berry said. "I wanted to go to England because I had never studied abroad and I think it is becoming increasingly important to have an international perspective on economics, because of increasing globalization."

The Gates endowment is the largest single sum of money that Cambridge University has received for the purpose of graduate studies. The scholarship is expected to bring 225 students each year.

The five other seniors who received the scholarship are Sean Bennett `01, E. Joanna Guldi `01, Eli L. Diamond `01, Isaac S. Nakhimovsky `01, and Roman Martinez `01. Of the American scholars chosen as recipients, Harvard has the most of any college.

--Staff Writer Sarah A. Dolgonos can be reached at dolgonos@fas.harvard.edu.