Zachary D. Kaufman, an Associate Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Houston Law Center.
Sept. 4, 2020 - University of Houston Law Center Associate Professor of Law and Political Science Zachary D. Kaufman was recently appointed by the U.K. government to the regional committee that selects Marshall Scholars.
One of the world’s most prestigious and competitive fellowships for postgraduate study, Marshall Scholarships finance Americans to study for graduate degrees at any U.K. university and in any field. These scholarships were originally a gift from the U.K. government to the United States to express gratitude for foreign aid received through the post-World War II Marshall Plan. Marshall Scholars include: U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Neil Gorsuch; Nobel Prize winner Roger Tsien; Pulitzer Prize winners Anne Applebaum, Tom Friedman, Jeffrey Gettleman, and Daniel Yergin; Man Booker prize winner Marilyn Booth; former President of Duke University and Wellesley College Nannerl Keohane; former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt; former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns; former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip; co-founder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman; founder of Dolby Laboratories Ray Dolby; former Editor-in-Chief of Time magazine Nancy Gibbs; former Dean of Yale Law School Harold Koh; and former Dean of Stanford Law School Kathleen Sullivan.
Selectors serve on one of eight regional committees throughout the United States. Each regional committee chooses approximately four Marshall Scholars. The U.K. government appointed Professor Kaufman to the regional committee for Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Each year, the committee to select Marshall Scholars receives approximately 100-125 applications, which are then narrowed down to 12-15 finalists in October. Finalist interviews are held in November for the four coveted scholar openings. According to Professor Kaufman, all interviews and deliberations this year will be conducted virtually.
Professor Kaufman was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University, where he received his Ph.D. in international relations. In addition to his new role on the Marshall Scholarship regional selection committee, he already serves on the seven-person Executive Committee of the Association of Marshall Scholars’ Board of Directors.
“The Marshall Scholarship was a transformative experience in my life, for which I am deeply grateful,” Professor Kaufman said. “It is an immense honor to select the next generation of Marshall Scholars.”
