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Martin Scholars Link Hertford with Hartford
*Observer Editor's Note: The term MCR may not be familiar to readers on this side of the Atlantic. Nancy Giles, editor of the Hertford College News tells us that MCR means Middle Common Room and refers collectively to all the postgraduate students at a British academic institution, as well as to the actual room itself, which is a special gathering place for those students. This article first appeared in the summer 1999 newsletter of Hertford College, Oxford, and is reprinted with the permission of Hertford College, which is grateful to Charles Condon, University of Hartford secretary and general counsel, for assistance with the article. When Jessica Dunmore (UofH '99) arrives in October to pursue a master's degree in nuclear physics, she will be the 13th John G. Martin Scholar to study at Hertford. The Martin programme enables graduates of the University of Hartford in Connecticut to pursue two years of study in Oxford, funded by the Martin Trust. The story of the Martin Trust, established by the late Helen Moor Martin of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, in memory of her brother John Gilbert Martin, reflects the transatlantic nature of the programme. The Martins' parents were Americans who moved to England shortly after their marriage. Their mother was the daughter of a Hartford, Connecticut, food retailer, and their father an engineer who rose to become managing director of Daimler Motors in Conventry. John and Helen were born and raised in England. While Helen remained in England all her life, her brother John moved back to Hartford in 1928, eventually becoming president of his grandfather's company, G.F. Heublein. Purchasing the rights to Smirnoff Vodka, he built the Heublein Corporation into a major international food and drinks distributor, later acquired by Grand Metropolitan (now known as Diageo plc). In the Second World War, John Martin was a colonel in the U.S. Army and was awarded the Croix de Guerre by Charles de Gaulle. During his many years in Connecticut, John Martin and the Heublein Corporation were friends of the University of Hartford. When he died in 1986, it was with that friendship in mind that his sister Helen established the John G. Martin Scholarships in his memory. When Helen Martin died in 1988, only her closest friends knew of her many acts of generosity. To past Martin Scholars: Please update us on what you have been doing since you received your degree(s) from Hertford College. You can contact us by e-mail at <observer@mail.hartford.edu> or by regular mail at The Observer, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117. |
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