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The Hans H. Schambach Scholarship

The Hans H. Schambach Scholarships are awarded to first-year students of outstanding personal and academic promise who are likely to make a significant contribution to the College and to benefit substantially from their undergraduate experience. Preference is given to applicants from the Clinton, New York, area. This scholarship was established by Hans H. Schambach, Class of 1943, and a Life Trustee of the College.

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At the age of 14, Hans Schambach moved from his native Germany to Clinton, New York, to live with his aunt, a cook on the Hill, and his uncle. He excelled through Clinton Central School and attended Hamilton, where he studied political science. However, because of his German heritage, Hans was forced to leave Hamilton after his sophomore year and was interred until the end of World War II. After his release, he founded the Hamilton Cast Corporation in 1946, a precious metals company named after his alma mater. In 1972, he merged Hamilton Cast with Atlantic Oil Corp. and became chairman of its board, serving until his retirement in 1982.

In 1982, Hans retired and focused on collecting musical instruments. Initially, it was purely as a financial investment, but as Hans explains, his collection “ensures the preservation of some of man’s most valued treasures, the creations of great artists and artisans from the past, thus guaranteeing their availability to future generations.” Amongst his ever-growing collection is a bow thought to have belonged to Mozart, a bow with a presidential seal thought to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson, and two Stradivarius violins. Hans’ generous gifts to Hamilton were used to establish the Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts, as well as the Hans H. Schambach Scholarship.

June 2014