William MacDonald Scholarship – Won by Fortrose Student

Kenneth Matheson MacDonald of “Ivy Bank,” Fortrose, a 19-year-old civil engineering student at Edinburgh University, has been awarded the William MacDonald Memorial Scholarship by the Clan Donald Educational and Charitable Trust.

Kenneth MacDonald is the son of Mr Kenneth MacDonald, managing director of a firm of building contractors in Fortrose. He was educated at Fortrose Academy and Edinburgh Academy.

The Scholarship was established by Mr Robert E. MacDonald OBE in honour of his father who was born at Swiney near Lybster in Caithness and went to the United States as a young man. Applications were invited from young members of the Clan between the ages of 17 and 21 years who wished to qualify as civil engineers.

The Scholarship is tenable for up to four years at the School of Engineering, Washington University, St Louis, Missouri, and the holder will be provided with travelling expenses to and from America, full board with pocket money and tuition fees and with books and educational supplies. Employment with the MacDonald Construction Company, one of the leading civil engineering enterprises in the United States with 10,000 employees, will be available during vacations.

The Clan Donald Educational and Charitable Trust was founded in the USA in 1955 for the benefit of educational, literary, scientific and charitable purposes and in aid of the improvement of the happy relationship existing between Scotland and the United States. The Patron of the Trust is the Rt. Hon. Lord Macdonald, MBE. The President and founder is Reginald H. Macdonald of Kingsburgh OBE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Vice President is Sheriff T.P. McDonald QC. There are, in addition, four Trustees resident in Scotland and nine in the United States.

Sheriff McDonald, announcing the award of the Scholarship, said that this was the first major enterprise of the Trust. Given more money, the Trust hoped to do a great deal more.