Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and best endowed scholarships in the world. The Gates Cambridge Scholarship accepts less than 0.3% of applicants and remains extremely competitive. Each year, approximately 100 new graduate students from around the world receive funding to study at Cambridge University. The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was launched in mid-2005 as a "Learning Initiative", and became a full-fledged program under the Global Development Division in early 2010. The foundation has since 2005 undertaken a wide range of efforts in the WASH sector involving research, experimentation, reflection, advocacy, and field implementation. In 2009, the
USS Thomas S. Gates awarded a contract to scrap ex-"Thomas S. Gates" to ESCO Marine, 15 December 2014. She was towed to New Orleans, LA., for scrapping in July 2017. The Naval Vessel Register lists the ships decommissioning and strike date as 16 December 2006. DANFS lists the decommissioning date as 15 December 2005. There is also a pamphlet entitled "USS Thomas S. Gates (CG 51) decommissioning ceremony, 14 December 2005 Naval Station Mayport" OCLC 156786375 listed on Worldcat. The Times-Union of Jacksonville, Florida noted that "USS Gates" (sic) was to decommission today, 14 December 2005. "Thomas S. Gates"'s insignia reflects the government service