The 2023 Class Of Marshall Scholars Has Been Announced

The 40 winners of the 2023 Marshall Scholarships have been announced by the British Government. The new recipients will begin their graduate studies at universities across the United Kingdom next year, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the scholarship.

Created by the British government by an Act of Parliament to honor George C. Marshall, General of the Army, Secretary of State, and architect of the post-World War II Economic Recovery Program (ERP), better known as the Marshall Plan, Marshall Scholarships were first granted in 1953.

Since their inception, the scholarships have been awarded to academically exceptional American citizens who’ve recently earned an undergraduate degree from a four-year college or university in the United States. Considered one of the most prestigious postgraduate awards available to U.S. students, Marshall Scholarships have been awarded to over 2,200 individuals since the beginning of the program. More than 900 students applied for the scholarships this year.

The latest class of Scholars represents a broad diversity of backgrounds and interests, and, as usual, they graduated from a wide range of institutions - 32 different U.S. colleges and universities, with more than a third coming from state or public universities and military service academies.

The University of North Dakota, Pitzer College and Wayne State University have Marshall Scholars going to the UK for the first time ever. The University of Pennsylvania, Yale University and Harvard University had three scholars each in this class, while the University of Georgia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology each had two.

According to the announcement, 85% of the 2023 class intend to pursue public service careers in the United States, following their time in the UK, including representatives from the U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy who will assume active duty service upon completion of their studies.

The scholarships pay for up to three years of postgraduate study at a British university of the student's choice. The new recipients will begin their studies in the United Kingdom next September.

“Whether it is the War in Ukraine or global challenges from the effects of Climate Change, Marshall Scholars continue to work to help address global issues head on,” said Dame Karen Pierce, British Ambassador to the United States. “The British Government is excited to support these future leaders of American society as they begin the next stage of their lives studying at some of the UK’s top academic institutions.”

The complete list of 2023 winners can be found here, As the following sample illustrates, they represent a remarkable range of talents and interests, including artists and athletes, activists and authors, scientists and inventors:

• Sihao Huang, a graduate of MIT, started a spacecraft systems company, has published a first-author research paper, and founded the MIT Political Review, the school's first undergraduate politics journal. He’s currently pursuing a master's in global affairs at Tsinghua University in China as a 2023 Schwarzman Scholar.
• Notre Dame’s Hannah Gillespie earned her B.S. in mechanical engineering with a minor in theology. She currently works as an engineer at Boeing. A classically trained pianist, she also is a member of the board of directors of AscendNW, a nonprofit that supports Catholic healing ministry in the Pacific Northwest.
• Sydney Menne is the University of North Dakota’s first Marshall Scholar. A double-major in physics and mathematics, Menne plans to pursue her Master of Science in Propulsion & Engine Systems Engineering at the University of Southampton during her first year. In her second year, she may work toward a master’s in Environmental Policy & Management at Bristol or Climate Change & Environmental Policy at Leeds.
• One of three Marshall Scholars from the University of Pennsylvania, Carson Eckhard, graduated summa cum laude in 2021 with honors in history and English. She currently works as the practice assistant for McDermott, Will & Emery’s Supreme Court Practice in Washington, D.C., and serves as vice chair of The Liberation Foundation in Philadelphia. Eckhard interned at the Conviction Integrity Unit in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and at the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition. She plans to study for master’s degrees in economic and social history at University of Edinburgh and socio-legal research at the University of Oxford.
• Princeton senior Abdelhamid (Hamid) Arbab did his senior thesis on prison-based religious accommodations for incarcerated Muslims in New Jersey state prisons. He hopes to conduct a similar study at the University of Birmingham during his first year in the UK. He then plans to study criminal justice at Oxford. Hamid interned at the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ New York chapter in 2020. In addition, he’s worked as a prisoners’ rights intern for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and as a Guggenheim summer research fellow at the Vera Institute of Justice.
• Maggie Sardino, is majoring in writing and rhetoric in the College of Arts and Sciences and citizenship and civic engagement in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in digital humanities at King’s College London during her first year and a master’s degree in applied anthropology and community arts at Goldsmiths, University of London. A Fulbright Scholar, Sardino wrote, directed, produced and co-edited a documentary on a public housing complex in Syracuse.
• Columbia’s Cy Gilman, a double major in English and applied mathematics, has conducted research at Occidental College’s Moore Lab of Zoology, served as a teaching assistant for courses on logic and voting theory and been a writer and senior editor for The Blue and White, Columbia’s undergraduate magazine. He also was a cellist with the Columbia University Orchestra. Gilman plans to pursue an M.A. in research architecture at Goldsmiths and an M.A. in human rights at Birkbeck, both at the University of London.
• Stanford history major Kyra Jasper is a Boren Scholar, who’s interned for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. She’s worked for the Indonesian Institute for an Independent Judiciary and the Center for Civil Liberties where she helped lead a campaign in Ukraine advocating for the release of nearly 100 Ukrainian political prisoners held captive in Russia. Jasper also founded the Stanford Southeast Asia Forum, one of the first undergraduate student organizations in the U.S. focused on Southeast Asia.

“Marshall Scholars continue to embody the spirit of the scholarship’s namesake in their commitment to making the world a better place. They are powerful advocates for excellence and progress in an impressive range of disciplines.” said John Raine, Chair of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission.

The Marshall Scholarship program is funded primarily by the British government, but also receives support through partnerships with various British academic institutions. Additional support comes from the Association of Marshall Scholars (AMS), the official alumni organization of the Marshall Scholarship and the British Schools & Universities Foundation (BUSF).

The Scholars are able to study for graduate degrees in almost any academic subject at any university in the UK. This class will take up their studies at 21 different institutions across the UK starting next September, ranging from London institutions such as King’s College London to the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.