Keohane wins Marshall Medal

President Nan Keohane was one of seven recipients of the inaugural Marshall Medal, given at a London ceremony last week by Prince Charles, the Patron of the Association of Marshall Scholars. The six other honorees were Secretary of State Colin Powell, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, engineer and inventor Ray Dolby and President of the Atlantic Council of the United States Christopher Makins.

The ceremony, held Nov. 19 at the Senate House, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Scholarships, which allow young Americans to live and study in the United Kingdom. The Marshall Medals were awarded to "individuals whose outstanding achievement and creative energy in public life, in international relations and in fostering Anglo-American understanding embody the ideals of George Marshall, the founding father of the Marshall Plan."

Keohane received a Marshall Scholarship to Oxford University after she graduated from Wellesley College in 1961. At Oxford, she earned the B.A.-M.A. with First Class Honours in philosophy, politics and economics.

The Senate House ceremony featured an address by Powell, who listed two reasons he believes strongly in the Marshall Scholarships program. "First, it fosters academic excellence among America's scholars who participate. Second, and perhaps more significant, it continually reinforces the strong ties between the United States and the United Kingdom across all sectors of our societies," Powell said.

Since the Marshall Scholarships were inaugurated by the British government to acknowledge the Marshall Plan's central role in kick-starting the European recovery in the aftermath of World War II, 1,400 young American men and women have studied at 44 different universities in the United Kingdom. Alumni have gone on to careers ranging from politics to entertainment to sports to military.