Selwyn College have set up an annual prize and travel scholarship in memory of the broadcaster Bill Turnbull, who died last year.

Turnbull, who was a former colleague of Selwyn's master Roger Mosey at the BBC, visited the college for events and talks about the media and his career a number of times in recent years.

Turnbull passed away in August last year after receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2017.

The Bill Turnbull Prize for Clinical Medicine is backed by an initial five-figure donation from private donors and is supported by Turnbull’s family. The prize will be given to a Selwyn medicine student in the fourth to sixth year of their studies.

Many of Selwyn’s medicine students are based at Ipswich hospital, which is one of the places where Turnbull was treated for prostate cancer.

A travel scholarship has also been established in honour of Turnbull, which will give £1,000 each summer to a student travelling to the USA for academic work. Turnbull served as a BBC correspondent in both New York and Washington over the course of his career. Whilst in the USA, Turnbull reported on the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the trial of OJ Simpson. Later in his career, Turnbull was well-known as a host of BBC Breakfast.

Sesi Turnbull, Bill Turnbull’s widow, said: “Bill would be so honoured to be remembered with this prize and scholarship from Selwyn College. Throughout his life he had a strong connection with America, where we lived as a family for some years while he was working as a BBC correspondent.”

She continued: “Towards the end of his life, after moving to Suffolk, Bill received outstanding care from Ipswich Hospital, for which we will always be grateful. It is wonderful to know that others will get the opportunity to broaden their studies in places which were so close to Bill’s heart.”

The master of Selwyn College, Roger Mosey, said: “Bill became a great friend to Selwyn - visiting here often, and generously giving his time to talk to students about his career and how they might themselves go into journalism. I’m delighted that his name will now be permanently associated with a prize and with support for future generations of students.”