FIRST AWARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26781, 26 May 1948, Page 8

FIRST AWARD

ROTARY FELLOWSHIP OVERSEAS STUDY PLANNED A young Dunedin school teacher, Mr John Mitchell Fraser, a member of the staff of the Normal School, has been awarded the first Rotary Foundation Fellowship to be gained by a New Zealander. Mr Fraser, who was the nominee of the Dunedin Rotary Club, hopes to leave New Zealand in time to attend the opening of the wintersemester of the University of California in September. He will spend a year at the American university studying sea power in the Pacific area and its effect on international relations. The first fellowships were awarded last year, when 19 men from all parts of the world were given the oppor-

tunity of spending a year in countries other than their own studying conditions and obtaining information for lectures on their return to their various homelands. ,The fellowship plan, which draws its finances from, a fund perpetuating the memory of Rotary's founder, Paul Harris, is designed to promote Rotary’s fourth object—“ the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace, through a world fellowship of business and professional men in the ideal of service." As each of the 6500 Rotary Clubs throughout the world is entitled to nominate a man for a fellowship and a comparatively small number was awarded last year, Mr Fraser has achieved no mean feat in proving his eligibility. His nomination was subject to selection by a series of committees until it finally came before an international committee, which had before it a number of applications from all parts of the world. This committee has just concluded its sitting at Rio de Janiero. Mr Fraser, who is 27 years old, was educated at the Port Chalmers Primary School, the Otago Boys’ High School, the Dunedin Teachers’ Training College, and the University of Otago. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and has passed his written paper for honours in history. During the war Mr Fraser served as a lieutenant in the Royal New Zealand Navy and was on active duty in the Arctic, the Mediterranean and the English Channel. He took part in the D-Day operations off the Normandy coast. The fellowship awarded to Mr Fraser is tenable for orife year, and is worth approximately 2000 dollars. The conditions lay down that the candidate must have outstanding qualities of leadership and an excellent scholastic record. There is no arbitrary limitation on the field of study to be undertaken, but the wish is expressed that the candidate will later be able to exercise the knowledge gained in order to promote international understanding.