Agent TypeOrganisationHistoryPrevious Control Number: UA327 In 1902, the University of Oxford established the Rhodes Scholarship, according to the will of Cecil Rhodes, who died earlier that year. The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious international graduate scholarship program in the world and supports postgraduate study at the University of Oxford. Selection committees existed in the six Australian States and the "Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia" was established in February 1931 by Sir John Clifford Valentine Behan in order to foster, co-ordinate and maintain links between Australian Rhodes scholars as well as selection committees in the various states. Behan was the Association's first Secretary, being succeeded in this role by Sir George Paton, who held the role from 1953 until 1974. Both Behan and Paton were prominent University of Melbourne identities as well as former Rhodes Scholars. Behan became Victoria's first Rhodes Scholar in 1904 and was Warden of Trinity College from May 1918 until his retirement in 1946. George Paton was a 1926 Rhodes Scholar and in 1943, succeeded Bailey as Dean of Law at the University of Melbourne. In July 1951 Paton took over as Vice-Chancellor, the first to be chosen from inside the university. The records represented per Series UM612 came to reside in the University's holdings due to: Behan and Paton's long tenures as Secretaries; Their long tenure as employees of the University of Melbourne; and; The University of Melbourne's role in administering the Association of Rhodes Scholars Australia. Prominent University of Melbourne Rhodes Scholarship recipients include: Sir John Clifford Valentine Behan (1904); Edmund Herring (1912); Keith Hancock (1921); John Eccles (1925); George Paton (1926); Zelman Cowen (1941); Geoffrey Serle (1947); James Gobbo (1952); and Graeme Davison (1964). As at 2007, The Rhodes Trust offered nine Rhodes Scholarships in Australia every year, one for each state and three for Australia at large. The University of Melbourne continues to administer the Australian Scholarship on behalf of the Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia (ARSA). As this relationship is ongoing, it is envisaged that additional records may be transferred. The Terms of Reference for the Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia (per UTR6.107) were as follows (as at 26/5/2010): “A. The Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia wished to establish a scholarship to be used for the purposes consistent with the ideals of Cecil Rhodes and in particular for the purposes of bringing an overseas Commonwealth student to Australia. B. The University at the request of the Association agreed to administer the scholarship and received the sum of £2,000 from the Association. It is provided as follows: 1. The sum of $4,000 and any accumulations and additions to the sum forms a fund called the "Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia Scholarship" (“the fund”) and the fund must be paid into an investment pool and remain there until the Council directs otherwise. 2. The Scholarship is awarded by the Council upon the recommendation of a committee appointed by Council (hereinafter called “the committee :). The committee comprises seven members as follows: the Vice-Chancellor of the University who acts as chairperson; three members nominated by the Council; and three members nominated by the Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia. 3. The scholarship is open to persons who are graduates of a Commonwealth university approved by the committee- Provided that the first award of the scholarship is to be made to a graduate of a university situated in the United Kingdom and that, all other things being equal, preference must be given to a graduate of the University of Oxford. 4. The scholarship is awarded to enable a scholar to attend a university situated within the Commonwealth of Australia for purposes approved by the committee. 5. The tenure of the scholarship is to be determined by the Council on the recommendation of the committee. 6. The annual value of the scholarship is to be determined by the Council on the recommendation of the committee. On the recommendation of the committee the Council may expend the capital as well as the income of the fund”Search records of this agent
