Celebrating four decades of Transatlantic scholarship

Five outstanding students from the University of St Andrews have been selected to participate in the prestigious Bobby Jones Scholarship, gifting a year of study at Emory University in Atlanta, USA.

The Robert T Jones Memorial Trust Scholarship was established during the 1970s to honour the American golfer who achieved his most significant golfing victory at St Andrews. Since then the University has played host to almost 150 Emory University students in St Andrews with Emory hosting the same number of St Andrews students on their campus in Atlanta, Georgia.

Forging a permanent bond of friendship and collaboration between St Andrews and Emory, of which Jones was an alumnus, the scholarship aims “to perpetuate his memory in the hearts and minds of young people by creating a permanent memorial to his sense of values and character”. Jones died in 1971 having been diagnosed with syringomyelia years earlier.

The five deserving students going to Emory this year are Naomi Boon, Naomi Marshall, Fiona Pollock, Georgia Spencer-Rowland and Rebecca Spens.

In addition to the four undergraduate scholars, each institution chooses one Bobby Jones Fellow who completes a full programme of graduate study at the other university. Rebecca Spens was selected as the fellow attending Emory this year.

Honorary Secretary of the Jones Trust and University Director of Communications Niall Scott said: “Each year we are faced with the difficult decision of only choosing four scholars and one fellow from amongst a highly competitive field. These five women embody the best that St Andrews has to offer. We are in no doubt that they will represent themselves, the Jones Trust and the University with excellence during their time at Emory and into the future.”

With 2017 marking the 40-year anniversary of the scholarship, alumni and friends of the programme will be gathering in St Andrews in July 2017 to reconnect with fellow scholars, reflect on the lasting legacy of the scholarship, and launch it into the next decade and beyond.

Photo captions

News page thumbnail: The five new scholars (from left) Rebecca Spens, Naomi Boon, Naomi Marshall, Georgia Spencer-Rowland and Fiona Pollock

This page: The new scholars alongside the current Emory students and the University Administrators in St Andrews – left to right: (back row) Lucky  Khamboungheuang, Hannah Rose Blakeley, Naomi Boon, Georgia Spencer-Rowland, Fiona Pollock; (front row) Niall Scott (Honorary Secretary of the Jones Trust), Joanne Brzinski (Senior Associate Dean, Emory University), Adam Goldstein, Laila Attilla, Rebecca Spens, Naomi Marshall, Lorna Milne (Vice-Principal (Proctor), University of St Andrews)

Issued by the Press Office, University of St Andrews. Contact via 01334 462530 or email [email protected].