- Sir Winston Churchill
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Sir Winston Churchill sets out his vision of post-war cooperation between the US and UK in his speech, “Anglo-American Unity,” upon receiving an honorary degree from Harvard.
“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”
Sir Winston Churchill emphasizes the importance
of science and technology in a speech at MIT.
"Americans… created institutions for the advanced training of large numbers of high-grade engineers to translate the advances of pure science into industrial techniques that their output per head and consequent standard of life are so high.”
Carl Gilbert, Chairman of Gillette Industries (and the first President of the Churchill Foundation), and Nobel Laureate Alexander Todd jointly propose to honor Churchill through the establishment of a new Cambridge college.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower pens a letter to Churchill.
"The prospectus of Churchill College appeals greatly to me, particularly because, as I understand it, the College will concentrate primarily in the advancement of technological and scientific education.”
The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States is established. A few months later, Sir Winston Churchill plants two trees on the site of Churchill College.
James D. Watson receives a Churchill Overseas Fellowship, funded by the Churchill Foundation. The next year, he wins the Nobel Prize and becomes the first of nine Churchill Overseas Fellows to receive that honor.
The first three Churchill Scholars arrive in Cambridge.
Churchill, Clare, and King’s Colleges become the first Cambridge colleges to admit both women and men.
John L. Loeb, Sr. becomes President of the Foundation, starting an era in which private philanthropy replaces corporate donations as its primary source of funding.
“Having lived through two world wars, I regarded strong Anglo-American ties as essential. I therefore welcomed the opportunity to serve. When Lew [Douglas, US Ambassador to the UK, 1947-50] became ill, he asked me to carry on [as chairman]. Our family has been one of its main supporters ever since.”
On behalf of the Churchill Foundation, Prince Charles presents the Churchill Award to Ross Perot during an event that raised $1.5 million for the Churchill Scholarship.
President George H.W. Bush receives the Churchill Award in the White House Rose Garden.
“I am old enough to remember from the World War II, Winston Churchill's leadership. He inspired the United Kingdom. He inspired everybody in this country as well, and I think [the Churchill Scholarship] is a marvelous symbol of the lasting special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America.”
The Foundation increases the number of Scholars (from its customary 11) for the first time in 30 years. Today, there are 18 per year, and we hope to go as high as 20.
We began in 1959 without a founding benefaction, but instead with a group of enthusiasts who shared Churchill’s vision. The first donors were corporate, and Gillette provided the bulk of the early funding as well as offices for our administration. Here, the Chairman of Gillette, Carl Gilbert (right), meets with Jerry Simpson (Mechanical Engineering, 1964-65)
A series of gala dinners raised substantial new funding.
By the 1990s, our largest source of funding has been individual donations. Today, around one-third of our annual budget is raised through annual gifts.
The rest of our funding comes from our investments.
In 2020, we received a bequest of nearly $1 million from Jerry Simpson (center), the same Scholar pictured at the top of the page with Carl Gilbert. Legacy giving is likely to be a key source of funding in the future.
The Churchill Adviser Award is given annually to Campus Representatives, Churchill nominating committee members, or recommendation writers who have consistently distinguished themselves through their sustained efforts to recognize, recommend, or nominate exceptional STEM students. It is a way for the Foundation to thank members of the adviser community for their efforts in recruiting nominees on our behalf, in support of the Foundation’s mission to advance science and technology for our greater security and prosperity.
Dr. Andrew Hogue
Andrew Hogue serves as Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor University, where he leads efforts in research, civic and global learning, leadership development, and fellowships and awards. He first contacted the Foundation in the summer of 2020, a time when the country was burdened by lockdowns. He quickly applied for Baylor to join the list of Participating Institutions and nominated two students for that year’s cycle. Over the next four years, Baylor was only one of nine institutions in the country to nominate two students every year. Baylor had unprecedented early success, with one winner in each of those four years. A political scientist, Andy publishes at the intersections of politics, religion, and civil society.
Mr. Gregory A. Llacer
Gregory Llacer joined Harvard in 2004 and ran a number of programs relating to undergraduate research. He combined these and others to form the Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives in 2010, after which the university’s fellowship office moved from Career Services to under his umbrella. Since that moment, when Llacer became Churchill Campus Representative, Harvard has been one of only two institutions in the country to nominate the full slate of two candidates per year. Also during that period, Harvard students have won seven times, representing one of the highest totals in the country.
Dr. Timothy S. Jones
In 2014, Timothy Jones started his role as coordinator for nationally competitive scholarships at the University of Minnesota/Twin Cities. Immediately, he had a winner in Max Shinn, who was the first Churchill Scholar from that institution in 25 years. Over the following six years, Minnesota was one of only seven institutions in the country that nominated the full slate of two candidates per year. While all seven of those institutions had multiple winners, none had more than Minnesota, with six (as of 2022). Jones has a PhD in English and started his career as a professor. Now, as Associate Director of the University Honors Program and Churchill Campus Representative, he credits Minnesota’s success to a combination of factors: the University’s commitment to undergraduate research, the recruitment efforts of past Scholars, and his own knowledge of Cambridge from spending a year at the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College.
Professor Steven J. Miller
As Professor of Mathematics at Williams College and through his role directing the SMALL Undergraduate Research Project at Williams each summer, Steven J. Miller has mentored no fewer than eight Churchill Scholars over a 10-year period. While this award recognizes such an unprecedented number of Scholars he has taught, it is mainly for the time and care he has put into his support for his students. In his recommendations, Professor Miller clearly explains an applicant’s research contributions in a way that can be appreciated by expert and non-expert readers.
Professor Malkiat Johal
Professor Malkiat Johal, Chair of Chemistry at Pomona College, is co-recipient for 2020 as one of two professors who has had four Churchill Scholars come through his lab. Over the previous 10 years, Michael Gormally, Will Fletcher, Gabriella Heller, and Hannah Wayment-Steele were undergraduates in his lab before winning the Scholarship. He also taught the 2020-21 winner, EliseAnn Koskelo, in the highly challenging course, Chemistry 51. In all, he has been a mentor or professor for five of the six Pomona students who have won the Churchill Scholarship.
Professor Weg Ongkeko, MD, PhD
Weg Ongkeko, Associate Professor of Head and Neck Surgery, is the Churchill Campus Representative for UC-San Diego and co-recipient of the Award for 2020. He has had the rare privilege of having three future Churchill Scholars working in his lab at the same time. Students from his lab have won the Churchill Scholarship in three of the preceding four years, and four times in all. Four of the five total UC-San Diego Churchill Scholarship winners (Vikram Juneja, Angela Zou, Aswini Krishnan, and Harrison Li) worked in his lab.
Dr. Peter I. Bogucki
Dr. Peter I. Bogucki, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs at the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University, has been selected for his unparalleled success in nominating outstanding Churchill candidates. During his years as the Princeton Campus Representative for the Churchill Scholarship, 15 Princeton students won the award, representing over 40% of the University’s nominees during that period. No other college or university has approached that rate of success over a sustained length of time.