Harkness Fellowship

The Harkness Fellowships (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowships) are a programme run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. They were established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several countries to spend time studying in the United States. The many notable alumni listed below include the president of the International Court of Justice; a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge; the controller of BBC Radio 4; the editor of the Sunday Times; directors of the Medical Research Council, the London School of Economics and the General Medical Council; and a vice-president of Microsoft.

History

The Commonwealth Fund is a philanthropic foundation that was set up in the United States by Anna Harkness in 1918. Her son, Edward Stephen Harkness, initiated the Commonwealth Fund Fellowships in 1925. These were intended to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships by enabling British graduates to study in the United States. In 1927 the scheme was widened by the creation of Dominion Fellowships available to graduates from universities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. In 1929 a further category of Dominion Civil Service Fellowships was established. The awards were tenable from nine to fifteen months and candidates were to be under the age of 40.

In 1961 the Fellowships were renamed the Harkness Fellowships. In addition to the Civil Service Fellowships, a new category of General Fellowships was set up, open to people in the fields of business, banking, politics, creative arts and journalism. The maximum tenure period was extended to 21 months.

Since June 1997, the activities of the Harkness Fellowships have been limited to the field of health care. The Fellowships are now considered one of the most prestigious award programs in health policy, and accept Fellows from Australia, Canada (known as Harkness Associates), Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. They are tenable for twelve months.

The Current Fellowship Programme

Harkness Fellows in Health Care Policy & Practice spend a year conducting research at prestigious American institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Kaiser Permanente, or the Veterans Health Administration. They gain an in-depth understanding of the U.S. health care system and policy challenges, enhance their research skills, and develop contacts and opportunities for ongoing international collaboration.

In addition, Fellows attend a program of seminars during the year:

• September: Orientation and Qualitative Research Methodology Workshop
• November: International Symposium on Health Care Policy, bringing together Health Ministers from Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• February: Washington Policy Briefing held on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and senior government officials.
• May: Canadian Policy Briefing on Federal and provincial health
• June: Final Reporting Seminar and the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting.

Administration and Funding

The programme is funded and administered by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City, with additional funding for some Fellows coming from external bodies such as the Nuffield Trust (UK) and Bosch Stiftung (Germany).

Notable Alumni

The following are notable alumni of the Fellowship.

• Professor Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby, British botanist and educator.
• Professor Peter Atkins, Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University
• Professor Patrick Bateson, emeritus Professor of ethology at Cambridge University
• Professor Tim Beaglehole, Chancellor of the Victoria University of Wellington
• Ronald Bottrall, Cornish Poet
• Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Composer
• Professor Colin Blakemore, neurobiologist and former Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council
• Hugh Brogan, Historian and Biographer
• Sir George Malcolm Brown, Geologist
• Professor Sir Roy Calne British surgeon who performed the world's first liver, heart, and lung transplant
• Sir Graeme Catto, President of the General Medical Council
• Alistair Cooke, Journalist and Broadcaster of Letter from America
• Professor Nicholas J. Cull, Historian
• Professor Marcus Cunliffe, former visiting Professor of American Studies at Harvard University
• Mark Damazer, Controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC 7
• Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Composer and Conductor
• Sir Howard Davies, Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science
• Professor Glyn Davis, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne
• Stuart Devlin, Gold & Silversmith
• Jennifer Dixon, Director of the Nuffield Trust
• Professor John Dupré, Philosopher
• Professor John Montfort Dunn, Emeritus Professor of Political Theory at King's College, Cambridge
• Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times
• Sir Terry Farrell (architect), architect of the MI6 Building
• Michael L'Estrange, Australian Public Servant
• Pamela Gillies, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University
• Lawrence Goldman, Historian
• Anthony Green, Painter
• Jonathan Harvey (composer)
• Tony Hey, distinguished academic and Corporate Vice-President of Technical Computing at Microsoft
• Rosalyn Higgins, Baroness Higgins, President of the International Court of Justice.
• Ronald Hilton, British-American academic
• Hon Shane Jones, New Zealand politician
• Bridget Kendall, diplomatic correspondent for the BBC
• Graeme Koehne, Composer
• Nicola LeFanu, Composer
• Professor Koen Lenaerts, Professor of European Law and Judge at the European Court of Justice
• Anthony Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, Politician
• Gwyneth Lewis, Welsh poet, and the first National Poet for Wales
• Professor David Lodge, British author
• Piers Mackesy, Military historian
• Jan Morris, historian and travel writer
• Professor Geoff Mulgan, former director of policy at 10 Downing Street and director of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit
• Baron Murray of Newhaven, British academic
• Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, Rabbi & Social Reformer
• Peter Nicholls (writer), Science fiction critic
• Professor Claus Offe, Political sociologist
• Professor Derek Parfit, Philosopher
• Baron Penney, Physicist who was responsible for the development of British nuclear technology
• Peter Phillips, Artist
• Professor Randolph Quirk, British linguist
• Simon Stevens, Tony Blair’s health policy director at 10 Downing Street
• Randolph Stow, Australian writer
• Professor Barry Trimmer, Biologist and creator of the world's first soft-bodied robot
• Professor Rudolf G. Wagner, Sinologist
• Professor Sir David Wallace, Director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge and Master of Churchill College, Cambridge
• Professor Denis Weaire, Irish physicist
• Professor Sir David Glyndwr Tudor Williams, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
• Adrian Wooldridge,Washington Bureau Chief and "Lexington" columnist for The Economist.
• Professor Esmond Wright, Historian
• Hugo Young, British journalist
• Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman, Mathematician

References and Notes

http://archive.rockefeller.edu/collections/nonrockorgs/commonwealth.php?printer=1#harknessfellowship

See also

• Fulbright Scholarships
• Rhodes Scholarships

External links

• Harkness Fellowships