The AWC Scholarship

Throughout the year, the American Women's Club of Oslo's activities focus on fundraising events. The term "fundraising" in our club is usually applied to efforts to raise money for the American Women's Club of Oslo Scholarship, our primary philanthropic activity. The scholarship began in 1947 when Josephine Bay, wife of U.S. Ambassador Charles Ulrich Bay, suggested that the American Women's Club (then primarily a social club) begin to raise funds for a scholarship to be awarded to a Norwegian student for advanced studies in the United States. She supported the fund-raising activities and generously matched the amount raised that year. The first AWC Scholarship of $1,000 was granted in 1949 to Erland Frisvold for study in International Relations.

The club began to award the scholarship every two years and a scholarship committee was formed to publicize the scholarship, receive applications, screen and interview candidates, conduct all correspondence, and award the grants. The preferred fields of study have changed over time but are now

• Women's health
• Children's health
• Geriatric care
• Preventative medicine
  
• Education for children/youth with special needs
• Public health

 Since its beginning, we have awarded dozens of scholarships, including one to former  Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Bruntland. The 1955-56 scholarship  recipient, Bjørg Herdal, received advanced training in speech therapy at the Central  Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, Missouri. Read the story of how she went on  to help an AWC member and mother of a non-verbal child, only one of many that  could be told about the far-reaching benefit of the AWC Scholarship program. Click here to view the complete list of previous scholarship recipients.  

Three-time AWCO Scholarship winner Audun Myskja, MD 

The AWC is very proud of its scholarship program. It strengthens our ties with our host country and contributes to the well-being of children and adults who benefit from the specific training the Norwegian professionals receive in America. We contribute toward our scholarship fund throughout the year with income from monthly raffles, percentages of proceeds from sales at our meetings, a bake sale at the 4th of July Picnic, and special fund-raising events. Our standing goal is to award a grant of NOK 100,000 every two years, for which we budget annual earnings of NOK 30,000 from fund-raising activities.

To find out more information about the next scholarship to be awarded, visit our Scholarship Announcement page.

If you would like to make a donation to our scholarship, you may do so via the Donate link at the top of our webpage.