History

The Lenox-Conyngham Scholarships are funded by the Anton E. B. Schefer Foundation, which was established in 2010 in accordance with the wishes of the late Anton Schefer, to leave a legacy of charitable philanthropy.

Anton was born in Denver, Colorado in 1943. He was an alumnus of the University of Virginia, where his academic achievements led him to be admitted as a member of The Raven Society, the university's oldest and most prestigious honorary society. He was the grandson and cousin of many Cambridge alumni and Fellows. His mother Eileen was a Lenox-Conyngham, and her family have had long standing connections with Cambridge University, which have continued over several generations through to today.

A particularly close family link with Trinity College has formed over the years. Eileen was born and brought up in Edinburgh, and moved to the United States in 1942 to marry Anton’s father Ned, a Harvard alumnus. Eileen and Ned founded a school in the grounds of their home in Virginia, to provide special tutorial services for children. Anton later became its Headmaster and Principal, and alongside this used his smart commercial instincts to develop a property investment portfolio. The financial legacy of these enterprises, combined with a generous family inheritance provided the basis of the Anton E. B. Schefer Foundation.

The Lenox-Conyngham Scholarship programme was set up and is led by one of Anton’s oldest friends, Mr Okla Basil Meade Jr, a fellow Virginian who attended the University of Virginia with him and to whom Anton entrusted to fulfil his legacy. He is supported in this by other members of the Meade family in the US, and members of Anton Schefer's family in the UK.

The scholarship programme was established as a tribute to Anton and his parents’ service in the field of education and to honour the great Anglo-American friendship and exchange which their family represented. It is hoped that the programme will echo this spirit and provide an opportunity for students to experience culture, learning and wisdom across the Atlantic and to develop trans-Atlantic bonds and friendships.

For more information about the family click on this link.

Anton with his parents Eileen Lenox-Conyngham and Ned Schefer outside his rooms at University of Virginia The family's home in Falls Church, site of the first Schefer school