About the E. S. Cornwall Scholarship

Edward Satchwell Cornwall joined the City Electric Light Company in 1913 and by 1937 had risen to be its Manager and Chief Engineer. In 1949 he became Managing Director of the company and he continued in this position after the restructuring of the company as the Southern Electricity Authority in 1953. 

Throughout his career as a senior executive of the electricity supply industry, he remained a very strong advocate of university training for professional engineers, and many young graduates owed him a deep debt of gratitude for his interest and guidance in their training and subsequent professional development.

Following his death in 1954, the E.S. Cornwall Memorial Scholarship was established by public subscription and with a contribution from the then Southern Electricity Authority of Queensland. The indenture which established the scholarship in 1955 describes the purpose of the award as follows: “As a memorial to the late E.S. Cornwall a scholarship will be established within the University of Queensland in a manner hereinafter provided with the principal object of providing scholarships, bursaries or grants to enable graduates in engineering of the University of Queensland to go abroad to obtain further experience in or to undertake research in aspects of the Electricity Supply Industry”.

In 2007, the terms of the scholarship were amended by the University of Queensland to allow the scholarship to be awarded to engineering graduates from all Queensland Universities.

The same indenture also set up an Advisory Committee to advise the University in awarding and administering the scholarship.

The Advisory Committee has always taken the view that the E.S. Cornwall Scholarship is a highly prestigious award and has concentrated on selecting engineers whose applications demonstrate initiative and thorough planning in addition to technical ability. The electricity supply industry of Queensland is able to take considerable pride in the achievements and subsequent careers of its E.S.Cornwall Scholars.

For the rules of the scholarship, click here.

For an application form, click here.