[2][3][4] Created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1953 as a living gift to the United States in recognition of the generosity of Secretary of State George C. Marshall and the Marshall Plan in the wake of World War II, the goal of the scholarship was to strengthen the Special Relationship between the two countries for "the good of mankind in this turbulent world.

The creation of a separate scholarship was a cause of great concern to Lord Godfrey Elton, the head of the Rhodes Trust at the time, who worried that the ability to study at other universities would draw potential applicants.

[2] In 1959, when Parliament doubled the number of scholars from 12 to 24, British politician Philip Noel-Baker argued that "Marshall, more than perhaps any other man, destroyed isolation in the United States and built up the conception that only collective security through international institutions can save the world...I think the world has never seen an act of greater national generosity than Marshall aid and the other aid which the United States has given to other continents throughout the last 15 years."

Two came from Stanford, and the rest from Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Bryn Mawr, Kentucky, Oberlin, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

[15] In 1956, Claremont McKenna student Hugh Gallagher became the first wheelchair user to be selected as a Marshall Scholar, which he used to study at Oxford.

He went on to draft the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, which required that buildings built with federal funds be made accessible to all and was enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The first proposed 1953 arrangement of the Marshall Scholarship, a 10-page document presented by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty, instructed selectors to "look for distinction of intellect and character as evidenced both by their scholastic attainment and by other activities and achievements.

"[1] It specified:Preference will be given to candidates who combine high academic ability with the capacity to play an active part in the life of the United Kingdom university to which they go.

With foresight and the willingness on the part of our people to face up to the vast responsibilities which history has clearly placed upon our country, the difficulties...can and will be overcome.

The selection process is then coordinated through the eight major British embassy/consulate regions in the United States (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.).

[7] Although most of the responsibility for selecting the recipients is in the hands of the committees, a few formal guidelines have been outlined in the official selection criteria, most notably: As future leaders, with a lasting understanding of British society, Marshall Scholars will strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments, and their institutions.

[7] The Marshall selection committees place a strong emphasis on academic achievement and potential, and as such the application requires a minimum GPA of 3.7.

[39] The organization has been led by several notable board and advisory members, including Kathleen Sullivan, Reid Hoffman, Nannerl Keohane, Peter Orszag, Harold Koh, Roger Tsien and Daniel Yergin.

[40] The Association of Marshall Scholars releases an annual public opinion poll in partnership with Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.

The poll measures the American public's perceptions of the United Kingdom, highlighting major current issues (e.g. Brexit).

The event featured 30 speakers including Madeleine Albright as well as Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Neil Gorsuch, both Marshall Scholars.

[43] In 2018, the AMS partnered with the British Consulate General in San Francisco and the Bechtel International Center at Stanford University to host a Marshall Forum on Innovation.

Distinguished speakers included Reid Hoffman, a Marshall Scholar, and David Reitze, Director of LIGO Laboratory.

The forum highlighted societal challenges and opportunities raised by explosive innovations in these fields as they interact with advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science.

The Forum featured 17 speakers including the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, the Director of U.S. National Security Agency General Paul Nakasone, former U.S. ambassadors Michael Froman, Carla Hills, and William J. Burns, and former British Ambassador to the United States Kim Darroch.

[44] UK Supreme Court: Patrick Hodge, Michael Briggs, Mary Arden, Jonathan Mance president of NBC News, editor of Newsweek for Law, Economics and Public Policy Clinton Administration Economic Advisor California, 2008 Summer Olympics for Great Britain