On the Donor

In 1999, The Starr Foundation made a generous donation to HKU to establish scholarships in memory of its Founder, Mr Comelius Vander Starr (C.V. Starr).

The Starr Foundation was established in 1955 by Mr C.V. Starr, an insurance entrepreneur who founded C.V. Starr & Co. and other companies, which were later combined by his successor into what became American International Group, Inc. A pioneer of globalisation, Mr Starr set up his first insurance venture in Shanghai in 1919. He passed away in 1968, leaving his estate to The Starr Foundation.

The Starr Foundation is currently one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Among various granting areas, education has been one of the largest recipients of the Foundation because of Mr Starr's personal interest in providing scholarships to deserving students. Furthermore, Mr Starr's international perspective has also led to the Foundation funding a number of exchange programmes for students.

For more details on The Starr Foundation, please refer to www.starrfoundation.org.

The memorial book with entire biography on Mr Starr is available here.

Purpose and Scope

The scholarships shall support full-time undergraduate students from any discipline to take part in academic exchange under the HKU Worldwide Student Exchange Programme (HKUWW). The scholarships shall be awarded on the basis of academic merits.