An agreement was signed by the Alistair David Robert Chalmers Trust and the University of Malta. The agreement concerns the establishment of The Alistair Chalmers Bursary, a scholarship to be awarded annually to a deserving undergraduate student from the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies in order to attend a four- to six-week residential course at a Portuguese or Spanish university to further their studies and improve their language skills.

The ADRC Trust was founded earlier this year by the members of the Chalmers family in memory of their late son and brother Alistair, whose humanistic and human interests included the study and promotion of Hispanic studies as well as extensive travel and voluntary work in Latin America.

Roderick and Mary Rose Chalmers explained that the Trust aimed at supporting activities which were close to their son’s heart. Alistair was a strong believer in social justice and in providing opportunities to the young to develop their talents. 

University rector Professor Juanito Camilleri thanked the Chalmers family for their gesture and praised the constructive and inspired manner in which they chose to remember their dear son. He hoped that by making the University of Malta a beneficiary of their generosity, they were also pointing a way to other potential benefactors by nurturing a culture of private philanthropy towards academia which was only just beginning to take root in Malta. 

Also present for the signing were Professor Dominic Fenech, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Professor Carmelo Vassallo, head of the Department of Spanish and Latin American studies.