Educational Partners

McPherson College

In partnership with the Pebble Beach Company Foundation and the Automotive Restoration program at McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance supports three Phil Hill Scholars, one Jules “J.” & Sally Heumann Scholar, and one John Lamm Scholar for the 2024–25 school year. These scholarships go specifically to students of the automotive arts—automotive restoration, design, and communications.

McPherson is the only four-year liberal arts college to offer an automotive restoration program. The Foundation has also supported several McPherson interns, helping to defray living expenses while they gain experience.

Academy of Art University

The Academy of Art University has joined with us in honoring Phil Hill by providing several two-year scholarships to its highly regarded industrial design program, led by respected automotive designer Tom Matano. We are pleased that several students are able to be awarded the Phil Hill Scholarship each year.

In addition to the scholarships awarded, the Pebble Beach Concours has also collaborated with the Academy of Art in several ways including hosting a Sketch Battle with Academy of Art students and welcoming some outstanding student interns to assist in the event.

Stanford University

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance partners with the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS), which brings together researchers, students, industry, government and the community to examine the future of sustainable human-centered mobility. The Concours offers students at Stanford the opportunity to explore the future through the lens of some of the world’s greatest cars.

In a class this spring, students were given a select list of cars headed to our 2024 show field, and they have been researching those cars and debating their significance against the mission of CARS. The students are on our competition field today to see the cars in person, and this afternoon they will present the CARS Award for Automotive Innovation to the car they believe truly impacted the challenges of the future through excellence in technology and innovation.

Rancho Cielo

Rancho Cielo, a Monterey County educational organization focused on youth facing many challenges to success, is an ongoing charitable partner of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—but that partnership increased dramatically this past year when we began to help to fund an emerging program to train underserved youth to repair and restore automobiles—particularly collector cars. The funding for this partnership stems from a tribute established to remember automotive legend Don Williams. The hope is that many trainees will be able to find work locally, given the large car community and the supporting resources that have grown in tandem with the growth of the many car shows, auto races and rallies in this area—most of which trace their heritage to the first Pebble Beach Road Races and Concours d’Elegance in 1950.