Two UBC alumni are heading to the United Kingdom this fall to pursue post-graduate studies, including Canada’s first-ever Indigenous Chevening Scholar, Victoria McMahon.
Aimed at developing leaders of tomorrow, the prestigious Chevening Scholarships are global academic awards from the UK government for fully-funded master’s programs in the UK. Chevening alumni include Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy.
The British High Commission in Ottawa announced the three Canada Chevening Scholars for 2024-25: McMahon, a 2024 UBC kinesiology graduate; Mark Iyengar, a UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law alumnus; and Connor Finan, a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve officer with a degree from the University of Toronto in Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, and Celtic Studies.
McMahon hails from Barrie, ON and is a member of the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation of the Northwest Territories. She plans to study Creative Health at University College London, then go to medical school and become an Indigenous family physician.
Iyengar is a Vancouver, BC-based lawyer who earned his undergraduate degree from Ontario’s York University. After graduating from UBC law school, he clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for British Columbia, then joined a top BC criminal defense firm. Iyengar will earn a Master of Laws at England’s University of Cambridge. Based in Halifax, NS, Finan will study criminology this fall, also at the University of Cambridge.
Applications are now open for the 2025-26 Chevening Scholarships: Apply until Nov. 5, 2024. Canadian citizens with an undergraduate degree and at least two years of work experience are eligible. Next year’s award—supported by a partnership with philanthropist David Briggs—will include a scholarship designed for Indigenous students from Canada.
Read about Victoria McMahon's Go Global student exchange experiences.
Apply for a 2025-26 Chevening Scholarship.