Warwick’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift has been appointed as a Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission Commissioner by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Professor Thrift started his three year appointment on 1 August 2010. Commissioners serve for a term of three years, with the possibility of re-appointment for a second term. The appointment is unpaid.

The other FCO appointed Commissioners are Professor Richard Dendy, Joint Director of Warwick's Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, Honorary Professor of Physics at Warwick and Head of Theoretical Physics, UK Atomic Energy Authority; Dr Ruth Kosmin, former Head of European Economics, H M Treasury and Professor Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor, University of Bristol,

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 £2.2 million in 2010/11.