The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the

Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, includ ...

of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several countries to spend time studying in the United States. Recipients of the scholarship include a president of the International Court of Justice; former Chairman and CEO of Salomon Brothers; a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge; the controller of BBC Radio 4; the editor of the '' Sunday Times''; former directors of the Medical Research Council, the London School of Economics and the General Medical Council; and a vice president of Microsoft.

History

The

is a philanthropic foundation established in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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, Norway (as of 2009), Switzerland (as of 2009) and the United Kingdom. They are tenable for twelve months.

Current fellowship program

Harkness Fellows in Health Care Policy & Practice spend a year conducting research at American institutions such as Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Columbia University, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University,

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser Per ...

, 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 Healthcare 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 the United States 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

of New York City, with additional support for some Fellows coming from external bodies, namely: *B. Braun Stiftung and Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany) *Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (Canada) *Careum Foundation (Switzerland) * Nuffield Trust and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (UK) *The

Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport ( nl, Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport; VWS) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for public health, health care, quality of life, social work and sport. The Ministry was created in 1951 as ...

(Netherlands)

Notable alumni

*Professor David Armitage, transnational historian *Professor

Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby, FRS (24 August 1904 – 22 October 1992) was a British botanist and educator. Born in Leytonstone in Essex, he was educated at the City of London School and the Royal College of Science, where he graduated with a ...

, British botanist and educator *Professor

Peter Atkins Peter William Atkins (born 10 August 1940) is an English chemist and a Fellow of Lincoln College at the University of Oxford. He retired in 2007. He is a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks, including ''Physical Chemistry'', ''I ...

, professor of chemistry at Oxford University *Professor Sir

Jonathan Bate Sir Andrew Jonathan Bate, CBE, FBA, FRSL (born 26 June 1958), is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, poet, playwright, novelist and scholar. He specialises in Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He is Foundation Prof ...

, Shakespeare scholar and biographer *Professor

Patrick Bateson Sir Paul Patrick Gordon Bateson, (31 March 1938 – 1 August 2017) was an English biologist with interests in ethology and phenotypic plasticity. Bateson was a professor at the University of Cambridge and served as president of the Zoologic ...

, emeritus professor of ethology at Cambridge University *Professor Tim Beaglehole, chancellor of the Victoria University of Wellington *Sir Harrison Birtwistle, composer *Professor Colin Blakemore, neurobiologist and former chief executive of the Medical Research Council *Sir Ronald Bottrall, Cornish poet *Professor Hugh Brogan, historian and biographer *Sir George Malcolm Brown, geologist *Professor Sir

Roy Calne Sir Roy Yorke Calne, FRCP, FRCS, FRS (born 30 December 1930) is a British surgeon and pioneer in organ transplantation. Career His most notable achievements are the world's first liver, heart, and lung transplant together with John Wallwork ...

British surgeon who performed the world's first liver, heart, and lung transplant *Sir Graeme Catto, president of the General Medical Council *Reverend Professor

Sarah Coakley Sarah Anne Coakley (born 1951) is an English Anglican priest, systematic theologian and philosopher of religion with interdisciplinary interests. She is an honorary professor at the Logos Institute, the University of St Andrews, after she steppe ...

, Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Professor of Divinity at the Harvard Divinity School * Alistair Cooke KBE, journalist and broadcaster of '' Letter from America'' *Professor Sir Steven Cowley Theoretical Physicist and Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. * Dr Nigel H Croft, Quality Expert, and key architect of the ISO quality management standards ( ISO 9001) *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 Howard Davies, director of the London School of Economics and Political Science *Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, composer, conductor and Master of the Queen's Music *Professor Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne * Stuart Devlin, goldsmith and jeweller to

Her Majesty the Queen The precise style of British sovereigns has varied over the years. style is officially proclaimed in two languages:UK ParliamentRoyal Titles Act 1953(1 & 2 Eliz. 2 c. 9) Proclamation of 28 May 1953 made in accordance with the Royal Titles Act 195 ...

*Dr Jennifer Dixon, CBE, FRCP, FFPH, Chief Executive of the Health Foundation *Professor John Montfort Dunn, emeritus professor of political theory at King's College, Cambridge *Professor John Dupré, philosopher * Freeman Dyson, scientist *Sir Harold Evans, former editor of the '' Sunday Times'' *Sir Terry Farrell, architect of the MI6 Building *Professor Pamela Gillies, principal and vice-chancellor of

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and G ...

Fiona Godlee Fiona Godlee (born August 4, 1961) was editor in chief of ''The British Medical Journal'' from March 2005 until 31 December 2021; she was the first female editor appointed in the journal's history. She was also editorial director of the other jou ...

, editor, '' BMJ'' *

Lawrence Goldman Lawrence Goldman (born 17 June 1957) is an English historian and the former director of the Institute of Historical Research. A former editor of the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', he has a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He ...

, historian and editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography * Anthony Green RA, painter * Karl W. Gruenberg, British mathematician *Professor Jonathan Harvey (composer) *

Tom Hayhoe Thomas Edward George Hayhoe (born 3 March 1956) is a director of health sector organisations in the UK, a commentator on governance and organisation, a former businessman, student union politician and parliamentary candidate, and an offshore rac ...

, chairman of

West London NHS Trust West London NHS Trust is aNHS trustwhich provides mental and physical health services to the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow. It also provides some services on a national basis, including forensic and high-secur ...

Alastair Hetherington Hector Alastair Hetherington (31 October 1919 – 3 October 1999) was a British journalist, newspaper editor and academic. For nearly twenty years he was the editor of ''The Guardian'', and is regarded as one of the leading editors of the secon ...

, editor of ''The Guardian'', 1956–1975 *

Tony Hey Professor Anthony John Grenville Hey (born 17 August 1946) was Vice-President of Microsoft Research Connections, a division of Microsoft Research, until his departure in 2014. Education Hey was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and ...

CBE, academic and corporate vice-president of technical computing at Microsoft *Dame Rosalyn Higgins, president of the International Court of Justice * Ronald Hilton, British-American academic who helped uncover the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

’s clandestine preparations for the Bay of Pigs invasion * Peter Jenkins, journalist *The Hon. Shane Jones, New Zealand politician *Professor Ralph Kekwick FRS Biochemist *

Bridget Kendall Bridget Kendall (born 27 April 1956) is an English journalist who was the BBC's Diplomatic correspondent working for the corporation's radio and television networks. Since July 2016, she has been Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge: the first woman ...

MBE, diplomatic correspondent for the BBC * Graeme Koehne, Australian composer and chair of the

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austr ...

's music board * Rem Koolhaas, architect and principal of OMA *Professor Nicola LeFanu, composer *Professor Koen Lenaerts, professor of European Law and judge at the European Court of Justice * Sue Lenier, English poet and playwright *

Anthony Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill Anthony Paul Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, QC (3 July 1936 – 8 August 2020) was a British barrister and member of the House of Lords. He was at different times a member of the Labour Party, Social Democratic Party and the Liberal ...

, politician * Michael L'Estrange AO, Australian public servant and former Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom * Gwyneth Lewis, Welsh poet, the first National Poet for Wales *Professor David Lodge, British author *

Piers Mackesy Piers Gerald Mackesy (15 September 1924 – 30 June 2014) was a British military historian who taught at the University of Oxford. Early life and education Piers Mackesy was born in Cults, near Aberdeen in Scotland, the son of Major-General P ...

, military historian *Dr Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) * Sir Deryck Maughan, former Chairman and CEO of Salomon Brothers * Keith Milow, artist * Julian Mitchell, FRSL, playwright, screenwriter, novelist *

Jan Morris (Catharine) Jan MorrisJan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 7 (born James Humphry Morris; 2 October 192620 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the ''Pax Brita ...

CBE, 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 * Sara Nathan OBE, broadcast journalist and regulator *

Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger Julia Babette Sarah Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, (née Schwab; born 27 February 1950) was the second woman to be ordained as a Rabbi in the UK, and is a British member of the House of Lords. She previously took the Liberal Democrat whip, but r ...

, rabbi and social reformer * Peter Nicholls (writer), Australian literary scholar and critic *

John Nicolson (journalist and broadcaster) John MacKenzie Nicolson (born 23 June 1961) is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. Since the 2019 United Kingdom general election in Scotland, 2019 general election he has been the SNP Member of Par ...

*Professor Claus Offe, political sociologist *Professor Derek Parfit, philosopher * Baron Penney, physicist responsible for the development of British nuclear technology * Peter Phillips, artist and pioneer of pop art *Professor Randolph Quirk, British linguist, former

Quain Professor Quain Professor is the professorship title for certain disciplines at University College London, England. The title honours Richard Quain, who became Professor of Anatomy in 1832 at what would become University College, London. Quain left a legacy ...

at University College London. *Professor Dame Anne Marie Rafferty DBE, British nurse, currently Professor of Nursing Policy

Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care is an academic faculty within King's College London. The faculty is the world's first nursing school to be continuously connected to a fully serving hospital and medic ...

, King's College London and President of the Royal College of Nursing, UK. * Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered plc * Malcolm Singer, composer, conductor and Director of Music, Yehudi Menuhin School * Richard Smith, painter and printmaker *

Randolph Stow Julian Randolph Stow (28 November 1935 – 29 May 2010) was an Australian-born writer, novelist and poet. Early life Born in Geraldton, Western Australia, Randolph Stow was the son of Mary Campbell Stow née Sewell and Cedric Ernest Stow, a ...

, Australian writer *

Andrew Sullivan Andrew Michael Sullivan (born 10 August 1963) is a British-American author, editor, and blogger. Sullivan is a political commentator, a former editor of ''The New Republic'', and the author or editor of six books. He started a political blog, ' ...

, writer, blogger and gay rights activist *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 Denis Lawrence Weaire FRS (born 17 October 1942 in Dalhousie, Simla, India) is an Irish physicist and an emeritus professor of Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Educated at the Belfast Royal Academy and Clare College, Cambridge, he held positions a ...

, Irish physicist * Brett Whiteley, Australian artist *Professor Sir David Glyndwr Tudor Williams, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge *Professor Jonathan Wolff, former chair of philosophy at University College London. * Adrian Wooldridge, Washington bureau chief and "Lexington" columnist for The Economist *Professor Esmond Wright, historian * Hugo Young, British journalist *Professor Sir Erik Christopher Zeeman, mathematician * Ruth Louisa Cohen CBE, economisthttp://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/cohen-ruth-louisa#bibliography Natasha Lehrer, Natasha Obituary Ruth Louisa Cohen Jewish Women's Archive *Professor

Christina Pagel Christina Pagel ( ) is a German-British mathematician and professor of operational research at University College London (UCL) within UCL's Clinical Operational Research Unit (CORU), which applies operational research, data analysis and mathemat ...

, Health services researcher and mathematician, Director of the UCL Clinical Operational Research Unit

References and notes

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External links