Armand Hammer United World College of the American West

UWC-USA (legally named the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West) is a United World College school in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. It was founded in 1982 by businessman Armand Hammer. UWC-USA is a two-year, independent, co-educational boarding school accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest.

History
American mogul Armand Hammer's The Armand Hammer Foundation purchased the property to establish a United World College in the United States in 1981. Major renovations of existing buildings preceded the school's opening in the fall of 1982, an event that was attended by HM King Charles III, then HRH Charles, Prince of Wales, and president of the United World Colleges movement at the time. The school's founding president was Theodore D. Lockwood, who served from 1982 until 1993. Philip O. Geier served as president from 1993 until 2005, when he passed the reins to Lisa A. H. Darling, whose presidency ended in 2013. The school's fourth president was Dr. Mukul Kumar '89, an alumnus and leader in international education, who left the school in 2016. The school is currently led by Dr. Victoria Mora, born in Albuquerque, a mother as well as a former Dean of the Santa Fe campus of St. John's College.

In 1998, the school's endowment was significantly increased through the generosity of investment manager Shelby M.C. Davis and his wife Gale. Their gift today secures the largest block of the school's student scholarships and provides $25,000 scholarships for all Americans who attend this school (or any other UWC) after being admitted by the U.S. national committee. Their initial gift of $45 million in 1998 was, at the time, the largest private donation ever made to international education.

In late 2007, The Wall Street Journal identified UWC-USA as one of the world's top 20 schools for its success in preparing students to enter top American universities. In 2010, UWC-USA was ranked a “Top Ten Program” by U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy.

Location
The school, in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is located at 35.65417°N, -105.28111°W in the town of Montezuma, New Mexico, just northwest of the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico, about 70 mi from Santa Fe.

The campus includes the historic Montezuma Castle.

Notable alumni

 * Sal Lavallo, American traveller
 * Lousewies van der Laan, Dutch politician
 * Michael Sugar, producer of Spotlight, winner of Academy Award for Best Film, 2016
 * Philippe Wamba, American journalist
 * Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
 * Richard Rowley, film director
 * Giulio Regeni, Italian student abducted and tortured to death in Egypt.
 * Iqbaal Ramadhan, Indonesian actor
 * Emma Tucker, editor of The Sunday Times and The Wall Street Journal
 * Pinar Karaca-Mandic, health economist
 * Paul Grimes, Senior Australian Public Servant
 * Gina Neff, American sociologist and author
 * David Rueda, professor of politics and economics at Oxford University