A record eight Harvard affiliates—five undergraduates and three alums—were officially named Gates scholars last Friday, allowing them to pursue graduate studies in a diverse range of fields at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom this fall.

The Harvard recipients account for more than one-fourth of this year’s 31 recipients, taking the greatest share of awards in the four-year history of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

Since its 2001 founding, Harvard has led all universities with 20 total scholars, followed by Yale with 15 recipients and Princeton with nine. Yale had the second most this year with three scholars.

Scholarship recipient Abigail M. Wild ’04, a mind, brain and behavior and history and science concentrator, said she plans to pursue a doctorate in criminology at Cambridge University.

“I was thrilled and completely surprised by the news; it was certainly the most productive Valentine’s Day of my college career,” Wild wrote in an e-mail.

Vera S. Makarov ’04, another Harvard winner, said she is planning to study 20th century Russian dissident art at the university.

“Art is something that I have always been passionate about and Gates gave me an opportunity to pursue it academically,” said Makarov, a social studies concentrator.

Makarov and Wild—who reside on the same floor in Pforzheimer House’s Moors College—plan to live abroad together in Pembroke College, a dormitory at Cambridge University.

Richard J. Bell, assistant senior tutor in Pforzheimer House, described the scholarship as “a tremendous achievement.”

“To have two students from our House win these immensely prestigious awards is glowing testament to the breadth and depth of talent, ability and accomplishments of Pforzheimer students,” Bell said. “I hope Abby and Vera’s success will encourage others to apply for the Gates scholarships, a fellowship that is rapidly becoming the ‘Cambridge Rhodes.’”

Similar to the Rhodes and Marshall, the Gates Scholarship provides full funding for post-graduate study at Cambridge University, including travel and living expenses. However, unlike these other scholarships, the Gates Scholarship does not require candidates to be endorsed by their universities.

The scholarships, created by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have facilitated post-graduate study at Cambridge University for over 100 recipients.

“What made it really different from the other [fellowships] that I applied for was its focus on your fit with Cambridge University,” Makarov said.

According to the scholarship’s website, Gates established the awards to identify and encourage “highly educated leaders, skilled in research and analysis, who will undertake a creative approach to defining and solving problems so that we can address the injustices and inequities around our world.”

Gates scholars are chosen after a round of applications in the fall and a round of interviews in the spring. All qualified applicants from the United States are interviewed in Annapolis, Md.

The Gates Scholarship is open to any student who has or will attain at least one college degree prior to October of the following year.

The eight Gates scholars from Harvard will join 268 students from 60 countries currently studying at Cambridge University.

In addition to Makarov and Wild, this year’s Harvard Gates Scholarship recipients include Charles B. Chang ’03, Andrew C. Lin ’04, Tzu-Huan Lo ’03, Barbara Richter ’04, Amy E. Rowe, who graduated from the Divinity School in 2001, and Brian A. Shillinglaw ’01.