News story

Foreign Office appoints new Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission Chair and Commissioners

The new Chair and Commissioners of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission will start their term on 1 September.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The appointments are:

  • Dr John Hughes FRSA (Chair), currently Deputy Chair, Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission and former British Ambassador to Venezuela and Argentina

  • Mr Michael Birshan (Commissioner), partner at McKinsey & Company
  • Mr Timothy Hornsby CBE (Commissioner), Chair of the Harkness Fellows Association and the Horniman Museum; former Chief Executive of the National Lottery Charities Board

Commissioners serve for a term of three years, with the possibility of re-appointment for a second term. The appointment is unpaid.

The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission is responsible for overseeing the British Marshall Scholarships programme, which was established in 1953 by an Act of Parliament.

The scholarship programme enables talented, young American postgraduate students to study at a UK institution and to develop an understanding and appreciation of the UK. Up to forty new scholars are selected each year. The scholars are identified as potential future leaders in the United States and as alumni they make an important contribution to the UK-US bilateral relationship.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office gives the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission an annual grant-in-aid, which is £1.9 million in 2011/12.

Published 17 August 2011