United World College of the Atlantic

United World College of the Atlantic   (College)
Formation	1962
Headquarters	Wales, UK
Type	Private
Transatlantic creed college with curious military/deep state ties.

Atlantic College or the United World College of the Atlantic (sometimes styled UWC Atlantic College or UWCAC) is an independent, international, residential Sixth Form College in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. It the first in of the United World Colleges, a network that today spans 18 schools on four continents.

While the school offers an International Baccalaureate diploma curriculum, which the school was involved in creating in the 1960s, the College has several curious deep state and military connections. Its official history says that it was founded by the German educationalist Kurt Hahn after a lecture visit in 1955 to the NATO Defence College in Paris. It was at this meeting that British Commandant Air Marshal Sir Lawrence Darvall "was inspired by Kurt Hahn's analysis of the state of the young". Admiral Desmond Hoare was its first Headmaster.

David Wills, the little known founder of the deep state Ditchley Foundation, was a founder member of the group which launched the Atlantic Colleges. From 1967 until 1978, the seedy Louis Mountbatten was president.

Official History

It is known for its liberal, progressive and radical education, its global ethos and its strong focus on local and global sustainability. It is attended by approximately 350 students from more than 90 countries, the majority of whom are selected through 'National Committees' who help fund their education through partial or full scholarships; around 60% of students receive some form of financial aid.

In 1962, the school was founded by the German educationalist Kurt Hahn, who had previously set up Gordonstoun School in Scotland and the Schule Schloss Salem as well as the Stiftung Louisenlund in Germany. Hahn founded the institutions as a practical response to the search for new and peaceful solutions in a post-war world riven by political, racial and economic divisions.

Hahn had been invited to address the NATO Defence College, where he saw former enemies from several nations working together towards a common goal. With a number of colleagues Hahn realised how much more could be done to overcome the hostility of the Cold War if young people from different nations could be brought together in a similar way. He envisaged a college for students who were already grounded in their own cultures but impressionable enough to learn from others. Drawn from all nations, the students would be selected purely on merit and potential, regardless of race, religion, nationality and background.

Atlantic College was hailed by The Times as "the most exciting experiment in education since the Second World War." The College was the fruit of Kurt Hahn's vision and the work of individuals such as the founding Headmaster Rear Admiral Desmond Hoare, Antonin Besse, who donated St Donat's Castle for the college's premises, and Air Marshal Sir Lawrance Darvall. Robert Blackburn was also influential as founding Deputy Headmaster and Director of Studies.

The impressive entry to the college at St Donat's Castle

In 1967, Lord Mountbatten of Burma became President of the organisation and the title United World Colleges came into existence. Mountbatten was an enthusiastic UWC supporter and encouraged heads of state, politicians and personalities throughout the world to share his interest. He was personally involved in founding the second UWC – the United World College of South East Asia – in Singapore. A further College followed in 1974: Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson had dreamed of establishing an institution like Atlantic College in Canada and it was fitting that the Lester B Pearson United World College of the Pacific "became Canada's living memorial to its much-respected leader". (In reality, Pearson was a power hungry turncoat who abandoned any peace ideals and took over Canada after a 1963 foreign-backed regime change).

In 1978, Mountbatten passed the Presidency to his great-nephew, HRH Prince Charles The Prince of Wales. The current presidents of Atlantic College are Queen Noor of Jordan, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and until his death in 2013, Nelson Mandela of South Africa.

Notable former pupils

• David Christian (1947–), historian
• Henry Bromell (1947–2013), American novelist, screenwriter, and director
• Sir Howard Newby (1947–), Pro Vice Chancellor of The University of Liverpool, former Vice Chancellor UWE, former VC University of Southampton
• Malcolm Dixelius (1948–), Swedish journalist, documentary filmmaker and Russia expert
• Pentti Kouri (1949–2009), Finnish economist and venture capitalist
• Marjan Šetinc (1949–), Slovenian politician and diplomat
• David Ceperley (1949–), theoretical physicist
• Eyal Ofer (1950–), Israeli billionaire
• Ghaleb Cachalia (1950–) South-African politician
• Wang Guangya (1950–) Chinese diplomat
• Jorma Ollila (1950–), Finnish executive, former CEO of Nokia Corporation, current Non-Executive Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and Nokia.
• Seppo Honkapohja (1951–), Finnish board member of the Bank of Finland, former Professor of Macroeconomics at University of Cambridge.
• Chris Morgan (1952–2008), Welsh journalist
• Carole Corbeil (1952–2000), Canadian writer
• Mónica Mayer (1954–), Mexican artist
• Edoardo Agnelli (1954–2000), heir apparent of Fiat
• Kari Blackburn (1954–2007), BBC reporter
• Aernout van Lynden (1954–), war correspondent and journalist in the Middle East
• Tarek Ben Halim (1955–2009), investment banker and founder of Alfanar, the Arab region's first venture philanthropy organization.
• Hakeem Bello-Osagie (1955–), Chairman of the United Bank for Africa
• Spyros Niarchos (1955–), Greek shipping heir
• David Voas (1955–), Professor of Population Studies
• Fernando Alonso (engineer) (1956–), Head of Airbus Test Flight Division (A380 first flight crew member)
• Charles Kuta (1956–), American computer engineer and co-founder of Silicon Graphics
• Priscilla Rattazzi-Whittle (1956–), author and President of the College's US Foundation
• Jonathan Michie (1957–), Director of the Department for Continuing Education and President of Kellogg College, University of Oxford and founder of the Manchester United supporters' trust
• Tim Owen (barrister), (1958- ), barrister
• Olivia Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrish (1960–), British life peer and member of the House of Lords
• Jamal Mahjoub (1960–), writer
• Nick Brown (1962–), academic
• David Cunliffe (1963–), New Zealand politician and former Minister
• Ari Lahti (1963–), Finnish businessman
• Didier Stainier (1963–), Belgian/American developmental geneticist
• Julie Payette (1963–), Canadian astronaut and Governor General of Canada (Sept. 2017–Jan. 2021)
• J. Nozipo Maraire (1964–), Zimbabwean doctor, entrepreneur and writer
• Helen Pankhurst (1964–), activist, writer and blogger
• Ulrich Meyer-Bothling, (196x–), eye surgeon
• Janet Robertson (1965–), Falkland Islands politician
• Alexandra Bech Gjørv (1965–), Norwegian lawyer and businesswoman
• Alison Donnell (1966–), British academic
• Johannes Brandrup (1967–), German actor
• King Willem-Alexander (1967–), king of the Netherlands
• Eluned Morgan (1967–), politician
• Luke Harding, (1968–) spook and political journalist at The Guardian
• Caetano Reis e Sousa (born 1968) FRS FMedSci
• Michiel van Hulten, (1969–), former Dutch politician
• Saba Douglas-Hamilton (1970–), conservationist and TV presenter
• Julian Wagstaff (1970–), Scottish Composer
• Jakob von Weizsäcker (1970–), German politician and chief economist of the German Ministry of Finance
• Elsie Effah Kaufmann, Ghanaian academic and biomedical engineer
• Caroline Webb (1971–), British author, economist and executive coach
• Louise Leakey (1972–), palaeontologist
• Wangechi Mutu (1972–), artist and sculptor
• Horatio Clare (1973–), author.
• Andreas Loewe (1973–), historian, academic and Anglican Dean of Melbourne
• Erik Varden (1974–), Norwegian Roman Catholic writer
• Ashraf Johaardien (1974–), playwright, columnist, performer and arts manager
• Jørgen Carling (1974–), Norwegian researcher specialising in international migration
• Kara Miller (1974–), writer, director and presenter
• Julien Magnat (197x–), film and television screenwriter and director
• Maciej Golubiewski, (1976–), Polish political scientist and diplomat
• Jukka-Pekka Onnela, (1976–), Finnish scientist
• Sally El Hosaini (1976–), film-maker and writer
• Hilde Hagerup (1976 –) Norwegian writer
• Jack Fairweather (writer) (1978–) British writer
• Qais Al Khonji (1978–), Omani entrepreneur
• Devika Bhagat (1979–) Indian screenwriter
• Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein (1986–), daughter of King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan
• Mark Oliver Kilenyi (1994-), Hungarian voice actor, publicist
• Princess Elisabeth (2001-), heir apparent to the Belgian throne

 

Employee on Wikispooks

Employee	Job	Appointed	End
Patrick Wright	Member of Council	1993	2000

 

Alumni on Wikispooks

Person	Born	Died	Nationality	Summary	Description
Tendayi Achiume				Academic	"As of June 2022, 72.09% of people in high income countries had been vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, whereas only 17.94% of people in low-income countries have been vaccinated"
Edoardo Agnelli	9 June 1954	15 November 2000	Italy	Billionaire	Heir to the huge Agnelli fortune who was "found dead under a bridge" after converting to Islam.
Luke Harding	21 April 1968		UK	Author Spook Journalist	Guardian journalist, expelled from Russia, "MI6 mouthpiece"
Seppo Honkapohja	7 March 1951		Finland	Academic Central banker	Finnish economist
Jorma Ollila	15 August 1950		Finland	Deep state operative Businessperson	Shell chairman, Nokia CEO, Bilderberg steering committee, WEF

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.