Former US ambassador Matthew Barzun has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of King’s College London by the Rt Hon the Lord Geidt, Chairman of King’s College Council.

The Fellowship was awarded during a US-UK Fulbright Commission ceremony held in the Council Room to inaugurate the award of the Barzun Prizes for Youth Engagement.

The US-UK Fulbright Commission hosts both the Fulbright scholarship programme and the EducationUSA advising network for the UK. They focus on opportunities and exchanges between the USA and the UK, as part of a global programme.

Matthew Barzun was appointed by President Obama in 2013 to serve as the American Ambassador to the Court of St James. He served in this position for three years and during his time in the UK made it his mission to spend as much time as possible speaking to young people, especially sixth formers. In total, he visited 165 schools and spoke to 20,000 students.

He also engaged actively with the work of the Fulbright Commission, greeting the new American Fulbright Scholars on their arrival in the UK each year. On leaving the UK, Ambassador Barzun and his wife, Brooke, left $100,000 to the Commission to be spent over a period of ten years to encourage American Fulbright students to engage with young British people whilst studying in the UK. In September each year during Orientation, the postgraduate students are asked to think about how they will engage with young people local to their place of study, and how the prize money might be spent to support and enhance that engagement.

The event in the Council Room was hosted by Sir Nigel Sheinwald, himself a former ambassador to the United States and currently Chairman of the US-UK Fulbright Commission and a member of King’s Council. Matthew Barzun awarded the prize jointly to Anthonia Carter and Niko McCarty for the two best projects, and prizes were also awarded to the four runners-up.

The ceremony concluded with the award of the Honorary Fellowship and concluding remarks from Matthew Barzun.

For more information please contact the Public Relations Department at King’s College London on +44 (0)207 848 3202 or pr@kcl.ac.uk.

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